No Way My Roommate Can Be This Hot!
by ClockwiseBlossom
Summary: Kaito's old room mate bailed on him and so he is in search of a new one! The guy he ends up choosing turns out to be someone Kaito finds himself greatly attracted too. Now he has an interest in discovering if his new room mate could possibly be his destined soul mate but this task won't be easy! KaitoxLen, the couple!
1. Chapter 1

_Ring! Ring!_

From beneath the massive pile of blue and white sheets atop the king-sized bed, something stirred. The movements were gentle at first but suddenly exploded with the blankets flying violently to the left. A mighty yawn emerged from the being that caused it all: A man in his late twenties with messy dark blue hair and dark blue eyes whose skin was as pale cream as the walls of his bedroom.

_Ring! Ring!_

The man, Kaito, stared at the world around him still only half conscious. Not much had changed for him in the last few years besides having earned a college degree, being in debt due to said college degree, and returning to bachelor status. Why had he been in such a rush to wake up again?

_Ring! Ring!_

Right, that sound. He turned his head slowly in the direction he assumed it was coming from, which was his nightstand. Of course the noise was being emitted from somewhere below a large gathering of papers decorated with half finished song lyrics that would likely never see the light outside this room. Kaito roughly knocked them aside so they too could join the blankets on the beige carpeted floor. After a few swats of his hands to clear his nightstand of the remaining notes, he found the top half of his cell phone sticking out from under a calendar. Kaito smacked the calendar away before picking up the object that had disturbed his slumber.

"Hello?" he ended up yawning instead of speaking properly.

"Kaito, are you alright?" a woman replied concerned, "you sound awful!"

"No, I just woke up. Sorry."

"But it's half past noon!"

"I was up really late last night."

"Composing songs again?"

"I was struck with inspiration but…I still couldn't come up with anything I was happy with," he kicked at the papers closest to his feet.

"I'm sure you'll think of something soon and when you do, it'll be a huge hit! I'm betting everything I own to that!"

"Heh, thanks Meiko."

"Mmmhmm! Alright, the reason I called is because I wanted to see if you were coming to my bachelorette party! I sent out invitations a week ago and I found it weird for you to not have replied!"

"Crap! I'm sorry," Kaito hastily began rummaging through the many other piles of papers on the dresser and keyboard across from his bed in search of the invite, "when was it again!?"

"Next Saturday starting at seven pm sharp! It'll be held at-,"

"Found it!"

"Eh?"

"The invite I mean. I can definitely make it!"

"I'm so glad! I'll just put you on the confirmed list and let you get back to your beauty sleep! Bye bye!"

Meiko hung up before Kaito could come up with a witty retort. Not that he had one anyway. He returned his phone back to where he found it but left everything else as was. He laid back down on his bed in hopes of getting back to sleep but his stomach started to protest that decision a few minutes later.

So the boring, daily routine began: Get out of bed, take a shower, throw on some clothes, and warm up last night's leftovers for breakfast. Or in this case, brunch. On today's menu was chicken with a few sides of various veges. One of these days, Kaito would learn to cook so he wouldn't have to rely so much on frozen foods and ordering out. Oh, what he'd do for a delicious home cooked meal-

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

"Huh?!" Kaito gasped, nearly dropping the plate of chicken. He rarely ever got visitors and when he did, they would always call first. Could it be Meiko then? A fast glance into the peephole threw that theory out of the window. A handsome looking young gentleman with golden wheaten blonde hair cut just below the ears dressed in a sharp gray stripped tuxedo was patiently waiting outside. It took Kaito's brain several seconds to process why such a person would be there: Today was the day of the face to face interviews for a new roommate!

How in the world did he forget something this important! Rent would be due soon and he was going to be short a few hundred. Stupid former room mate having skimped out on paying his half for the month before suddenly disappearing in the middle of the night!

"Good Afternoon!" Kaito greeted cheerfully after opening the door.

"Good Afternoon, Good Afternoon! Lovely day is it not? You're Kaito, right?" The man asked speaking at an accelerated, sales-man like rate.

"Yes, that's me! I'm so glad you could make it."

"Thank you, thank you! My name's Leon, though I take it you already know that and the fact that I'm here on account of being interested in joining you in living in this gorgeous apartment. My what a fabulous view!" he walked over to the patio doors that took up a good chunk of wall in the living room. With him mentioning it, Kaito did find a renewed appreciation for the sight it gave of the city's skyline. He also completely remembered speaking with Leon over the telephone. Kaito had called about four people total to have these face to face interviews with. So far this guy was giving him a good second impression.

"Right, so let's get this interview started!" Kaito clapped to regain the gentleman's attention. "Please have a seat right here."

Once Leon got settled on the sofa and Kaito into the recliner adjacent to it, the inquiry began with the bluenette asking, "What is your current occupation?"

"I work at a jewelry store not too far from here, front desk. Need help finding that perfect ring to give the woman in your life? I'm the man to ask! I can even help with relationships and the like if needs be!"

"Ok…are you in a relationship right now?"

"No, I'm not tied down but I am constantly on the prowl! And, ahem, the Leon rarely ever goes to bed alone~"

Kaito's hopes in this guy started to plummet. "Will you be having visitors constantly coming in and out then?"

"Only at night but I usually make sure they're gone before breakfast! You know? You know? You know! Say, do you have a girlfriend? If not, I can help hook you up! Or if you want, I know some gals who are into the whole threesome scene!"

Kaito found himself now completely revoking his original approval of Leon. He dealt enough with this sort back in the college dorms.

"That'll be all for today! Thank you for coming!"

"Hey wait, can't I ask you a few questions?"

Kaito sighed, "Sure."

"Why didn't you answer my previous question? Are you one of those shy guys who are insecure around women? Because I can help my friend! Just say the word, say the words!"

"No, I'm one of those guys who aren't into women."

"So are guys more your speed then? Hmmm? Hmmm? I could hook you up with a man or two if you want~ Maybe even I might be interested. You sounded incredibly handsome on the phone but seeing you in person-"

"What?! No-no thanks to all of that!"

"Understood Chief! Understood loud and clear! But my offers will still be on the table when you re-consider."

"Uh-huh, good bye now!"

Once Leon was gone, Kaito shook his head and went back to setting up his brunch.

…

Two hours later the next contender for the room mate position arrived. This guy, who introduced himself as Piko, was short in height with brilliant silver hair and two differing colored eyes, one green and the other blue. Unlike Leon, Piko was dressed very casually wearing nothing but a large white graphic T-shirt with a random reference to some video game and a pair of faded blue jeans.

Once Kaito finished taking his seat and having seen Piko had done the same, he immediately started the interview, "Are you currently employed and if so, what is your occupation?"

"I have two jobs," Piko clarified matter-of-factly, "The main one is working in customer care of a major computer software's company. The other is a freelance computer repairman. I have the second job to help fund my experiments!"

"Experiments?"

"I am always trying to find that next invention that will revolutionize the way we live!" He suddenly stood up and went on a zealous speech that Kaito could barely keep with due to Piko's heavy use of tech jargon and obscure or possibly made up short hands. After a solid five minutes, the silver haired male started to realize he was losing his listener and calmed himself down with an apologetic, "I just started rambling there didn't I?"

"That's ok," Kaito reassured. Even if he didn't understand much of what was said, he could still at least admire the passion. "Will you be ok going fifty fifty on rent and bills?"

"I _should _be able to…"

"_Should_?" Kaito's eyes began narrowing in suspicion. He could not afford covering any more then that for his future room mate! The whole point of trying to find one right now was because he could not make it alone.

"Sometimes my inventions have…set backs…and damages need to be taken care of as soon as possible so progress may continue!"

"What sort of damages are we talking about?"

"Small stuff like, like um…well rarely these but eh…, for a teeny tiny example, fires-,"

"Thank you for your time!"

Kaito quickly rushed Piko out, mentally crossing his name out a million times over. Another two hours passed and the newest candidate arrived. He was an extremely tall, bulky man with short brown hair dressed in a tight red t-shirt and white khaki pants who wanted Kaito to refer to him by his nick name 'Big Al'.

"So…Big Al," Kaito spoke slowly, feeling awkward having to say that name, "What is your current occupation?"

"I work down at the local zoo!" He stated proudly in a booming voice.

"Wow! What animals do you work with?" _Lions? Tigers? Bears?_

"Penguins!"

_Oh my._ "Do you have any pets?"

"No, unless I'm ever allowed to bring the penguins home!" he started laughing loudly.

"Alright! Next question: Will you be having any visitors coming in and out of this place frequently?"

"Nope! Um, would you? Or do you?"

"Huh? Oh no, no. When I do get visitors, they always call first and I would be sure to let you know well in advanced."

"EXCELLENT!" he bellowed, "You're already miles ahead of my ex! She constantly had company over without telling me and then I would get scolded for not being prepared properly! I would be like WOMAN, IF YOU WARNED ME I WOULD HAVE BEEN READY!"

Kaito shivered under the ridiculously boisterous, angry voice. The entire room felt like it was shaking! Heck, by the way the lamp on the end table nearby moved a few inches it actually was! When Al appeared to have calmed, Kaito said in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY!" He roared but instantly regretted, with him apologizing profusely for the outburst. He ended his pleadings of forgiveness with a, "Sometimes my temper gets the best of me!"

"Th-thank you for your time…"

…

Several hours after Big Al had come and gone, Kaito returned to his cluttered bedroom to dig up the list he made of all the personal interviews scheduled for today. He was pretty sure there was supposed to be one more guy coming over but it was getting pretty late in the day, causing Kaito to second guess himself. As he continued shuffling through the many papers all over the floor, the bluenette knew it'd be best to throw away the vast majority of his unfinished notes but the same thing that always stopped him in the past was stopping him now: the thought of the unfinished someday becoming the finished or a part of a different finished product.

So the sheets with song lyrics were stacked somewhat neatly on both the dresser and nightstand. With that done, Kaito went for the calendar and a folded piece of paper fell out from between its pages. Upon opening it, he found the exact list he'd been looking for! Naturally it was in the last place he had planned to look. Not only that but there was indeed a name written after Big Al's on it.

"Well Mister Kagamine, you aren't winning any points by being late!" Kaito frowned. He was going to have to take out a loan to make rent this month; there was just no other way.

_Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!_

Whoever was on the other side of the front door was rapping against it like a panicked mad man. Kaito dashed from his bedroom and snuck a peek through the peephole. All he could see was the top of a messy golden blonde's head.

"Uh, hello?!" he called out nervously.

"Hi, I'm Len Kagamine! I had an interview scheduled today with a Mister Kaito-,"

"Ah that's me! I was wondering when you were coming!" Kaito spoke as he undid the two locks. Right after, he turned the knob and was greeted to the sight of the cutest guy he had ever laid eyes on. That messy hair he'd seen was tightly framed around a youngish looking face with big blue-green eyes staring upwards from behind the unruly bangs. Len's hair was tied in a low ponytail that reached some where past the green sweat jacket currently covering his shoulders. The jacket was bulky on him but Kaito could still tell he had a rather slim upper body. The lower body was as well, with the tight black jeans accentuating that point. Despite being much shorter then the bluenette, Len's legs appeared to be pretty long.

"I'm really sorry for being late!" the blonde suddenly bowed, his lowered torso about level with Kaito's abdomen.

"Don't worry about that! You're here now and that's all that matters," Kaito replied still feeling pretty awe struck over how good looking Len was, "l-let's get started. Um, do you engage in any of the above activities: Throwing parties, performing experiments that could lead to fires, or having really loud anger tantrums?"

Len stood back up to his full height and started shaking his head.

"That's very good, that's great!" Kaito sighed relieved, "Now are you employed?"

"Yes! And to prove I will be a trust worthy room mate when it comes to payments, I will cover the first three months rent!" He brought out wad after wad of bills from his jeans' pockets and placed them all on the breakfast counter in a neat row.

This guy was a _godsend_. Kaito immediately started counting and saw that there was three month's worth of rent present in bills consisting of mostly ones, five's, ten's, and a few twenties.

"Wow! Where do you work?"

"Errr…at a job."

Kaito put the money down and stared directly into that beautiful face, those enchanting eyes and sputtered out a, "Sp-specifics please."

Len gulped nervously, causing Kaito to feel even more at unease. _Please don't tell me he's a drug dealer or something, I really don't want to turn him away!_

"I-I work at a night club," Len finally admitted.

"What do you do at this night club?"

His face started turning red, "I…I s-s-s-ss-s…trip…"

"You what?"

"S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-the-the this…," Len walked into the living room whilst unzipping his jacket. Once in the ideal position, he began gyrating his hips in a rhythmatic motion syncing up perfectly with the way he was slowly sliding his sweat jacket off to reveal slender, pale peach, well toned arms. What little of Len's back and chest Kaito could spot that was not hidden beneath the low crew cut sleeveless white T-shirt was also well toned. When the green jacket was gathered around his wrists the blonde, in one fluid movement, grabbed it up in one hand and started swinging it around above his head while rolling his belly in a highly erotic fashion. Kaito was beginning to form a tiny puddle at his feet from all the drool. Len was REALLY getting into this impromptu performance. He sent the sweat jacket flying only to have it land neatly in the recliner, then Len slid his hands down his body towards the ends of his jeans. He teased at pulling them down while swinging his hips left to right. Then he abruptly stopped, having his hands fall limply to the side with his head drooped.

"That's my job," he said bashfully. Then he looked back up at Kaito intensely with newly regained confidence, "I know how most people feel about, this sort of thing, but I want you to know that-,"

Kaito hastily dropped to the ground in a bowed position and exclaimed, "I WOULD BE HONORED IF YOU WERE TO BECOME MY NEW ROOM MATE!"

* * *

This is going to be a KaitoxLen centered yaoi tale!

Len is in his early twenties here and the original title of this story was going to be "No way my room mate can be this sexy!" but I thought that might not fly lol.

Thank you for reading and if you like this story thus far, I'd really appreciate it if you let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

"WHERE IS YOUR MANAGER!?"

The angry voice traveled from the shop's front counter all the way to the back office where the one being called for was presently. Kaito sighed, putting his pen down. The planning for next week's schedule was going to have to wait.

He had been promoted to full time manager status about two years ago, having first started work at the little ice cream shop as a part time cashier in his college years. Kaito had hoped after graduation he'd be employed somewhere within the music industry but instead was still selling frozen treats to make ends meet. Regardless of the bitterness over not yet achieving his dream career, he was grateful for having _a job. _

Taking a deep breath and forcing a big smile on his face, Kaito pushed through the double doors separating him from the shop's main floor. The current cashier on duty, a nineteen year old girl named Iroha, nearly ran into him as he stepped out.

"Hello sir!" She greeted nervously, "This customer would like to speak with you."

Kaito looked over at the disgruntled patron, who was an old woman wearing the evilest scowl he'd ever seen on a human being. Her wrinkles made the expression all the scarier. In his most polite, business like tone he asked, "What seems to be the problem ma'am?"

The woman didn't try to return the politeness at all, opting to continue screaming at the top of her lungs, "I WANT SOME CHILI PEPPER ICE CREAM!"

The last gallon of the flavor had been brought out just a few hours ago and Kaito, after checking the section where its normally kept, was surprised to see it gone already since it wasn't that popular, "I'm very sorry but we are currently sold out-,"

"THEN GET SOME MORE, ISN'T THAT YOUR JOB?"

"I can order more but it won't be arriving until tomorrow."

"I'M NOT WAITING UNTIL TOMORROW, I WANT IT NOW!"

"I'm sorry ma'am but tomorrow is the soonest it can get here."

"THEN YOU SHOULD TAKE DOWN THAT POSTER OUTSIDE THAT SAYS YOU HAVE IT! IT'S FALSE ADVERTISING!"

"We'll take care of it."

"Good!" the elderly woman finally lowered her voice to normal indoor levels, but the anger remained. "Then I'll be back tomorrow. You better have some!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Once she left and was out of sight, both employees sighed in relief.

With everything in order, Kaito began heading back to his office. On the way there, a freezer full of ice cream cakes caught the corner of his eye. An idea crossed his mind to bring one of them home in celebration of this day being the day Len officially moved in. If he remembered correctly, Len said he was bringing in all of his stuff starting around six. A quick glance up at the wall clock revealed it was now nearing six thirty so Len should already be at the apartment…

…

The elevator came to a gentle halt at the building's seventh level, opening its doors and allowing its blue haired passenger to continue on his journey home. Ice cream cake in hand, Kaito exited and noticed a little ways down the corridor before him the front door to his place was wide open with two men going inside carrying a large black metal dresser with transparent white drawers. Kaito waited for the movers to enter before he made his way in, hearing one of them yell out, "This is the last of it!"

"Ok!" came the muffled reply of the person whose furniture piece they were bringing in. To Kaito's ears, it sounded like Len's voice had come from the direction of the kitchen. Also coming from the kitchen was a smell of something very, very delicious. Fish maybe?

"Good Evening Len," Kaito spoke up cheerfully as his eyes rapidly scanned the current state of the apartment. In the living room there were several black suitcases of various sizes, then in the dining room area on top of the table were two six pack cans of protein shakes, a couple of boxes of energy bars, and one large bottle of vegetable juice. Finally his gaze settled upon the kitchen where there were many colorful bowls filled with freshly washed fruits and vegetables. Next to them was a whole bunch of a grocery bags and even more cans of protein shakes. Kaito was starting to feel like bringing the ice cream cake here had been a very bad idea.

"Hey! Good evening Kaito!" Len popped up behind the breakfast counter right across from Kaito. His blond locks were still as messy as the last time they met but it was tied back in a much higher ponytail, making him look younger then he already did. Len's slim yet muscular arms were in full view as he sported a light blue and white sleeveless T-shirt that had a hood attached to the back. "Sorry I haven't got this all cleaned up yet. I'm running late again-,"

"It's fine!" Kaito reassured simply being happy to him again, "And what is this great smell I'm smelling?"

"I'm grilling salmon," Len shook his head in the direction of a small white device sitting next to the stove.

"YOU COOK?!"

"Yeah but nothing super fancy, just pretty basic stuff."

"That's still leagues better then me! All I have to do is glance at a stove and a plate of ingredients before they spontaneously burst into flames."

Len started chuckling, much to Kaito's glee. Finding this to be as good a time as any, Kaito brought the ice cream cake up onto the counter. "I had bought this in celebration of your moving in but-,"

Two bluish-green eyes suddenly lit up, "Is that ice cream!?"

"Yeah, I went with the traditional vanilla and chocolate since I wasn't sure what sort of flavors you liked." Kaito released his hold of the white plastic bag and Len immediately removed the cake from it.

"I-I haven't had ice cream in so long…this is perfect! Is it ok to have a slice now? I'm really hungry cause I missed breakfast. Or I guess technically it'd be considered lunch by the time I eat breakfast."

"You prone to sleeping in?"

"Not exactly, I mean, I do sleep during the day but that's because I work all night."

"Oh right, the whole stripper thing."

"Uh…ye-yeah…," Len sunk down behind the counter, his shyness suddenly back with a vengeance.

Kaito was having trouble believing the blonde could _still_ be this bashful speaking about his occupation after he freaking stripped for him in the middle of the living room. Which had been hot as hell.

"Are you really ok with it? Me being a stripper? You-you hadn't seemed bothered when I did the demonstration but I just want to be sure..."

What, Len had doubts?! Was Kaito having had been intensely staring, drooling, getting a hard on, and then begging Len to be his room mate directly after the strip show not indication enough of his total approval? "YES! Of course I am very, very, very okay with this!" _So please feel free to practice your routines whenever you want, I will always be willing to watch and give my honest opinions. ALWAYS._

"We're all done!" a sudden new male voice announced. Kaito jumped in place, having forgotten those two movers were still there. Len promptly shot back up holding two small plates with forks balanced on the top most one. He placed the china down next to the cake then briskly walked over to the men, whipping out his wallet from his back dark grey Capri's pocket and pulling money out of it. Kaito started wondering if those bills may have at one point been inside Len's stripper thong. He was assuming Len had one of those...wasn't that standard ware for male strippers? _Oooh…Len in a thong…_He grinned to himself as he went about serving the cake onto the dishes provided. Not long after Kaito got done with that, Len had also finished his business with the movers and , once securing the locks on the front door, ran back over to his previous spot behind the counter.

"Shall I take these to the table or-,"

"No, no, right here is fine!" Len interrupted excitedly picking up a fork.

"Alright! Then to our new room mate...ship!"

"Mmmhmm!"

Very quickly were the slices of frozen creamy goodness devoured.

"Thank you for that," Len said licking his lips in such a way that sent a tingle down Kaito's spine. "I'm going to start putting my groceries away-,"

"Please allow me to help!" Kaito hastily volunteered. The very second Len made the beginning motions of a nod, he got straight to work unloading the bags closest to him. They worked together putting everything away and at the end of it all, the refrigerator was packed to its maximum capacity.

"This is why I shouldn't shop when I'm hungry," Len muttered before looking towards Kaito, "I'll find a way to make space for your-,"

"Don't worry about it, you can have this section to yourself. I only ever really use the freezer now-a-days!" Kaito opened it to show off his vast collection of TV dinners.

"Are those... good?"

"Not really but they fill my belly on a budget so I just deal." The grill started beeping and the mesmerizing aroma of freshly cooked fish wafted through out the apartment. His mouth began to water and this did not go unnoticed by Len.

"Would you like some salmon?" the blonde offered.

Kaito's face was a lit with joy, "Yes please, thank you!"

…

Not much talking took place during dinner since both guys were busy enjoying the food and quenching their shared hunger. Afterwards Kaito announced he was going to wash all the dishes, with Len going on to moving all the suitcases into his bedroom.

The dishes took the bluenette no time to clean and seeing that his roomie still had a few suitcases left, went over to offer his assistance.

Len looked at him uneasily, "Thanks but I'll be fine doing it myself."

"But it'd be much quicker with two people!" _  
_

"No offence but those are going be too heavy for you."

"Hey, I'm stronger then I look!" Kaito pulled upwards on the strap of one of the suitcases but it didn't budge at all. He tried using both hands for his second, third, and fourth attempts (with the last try leaving Kaito on his rump) but to no avail, that luggage bag wasn't going anywhere. "What is in this thing?!"

"My weights set," Len explained lifting it with relative ease.

"Ok, I'll take this one then!"

"It also has my weight in it, as well as the one next to it."

"Oh…," Kaito pouted. Realizing there wasn't any more he could do here, he left to go change out of his work clothes.

…

After taking a nice long spirit refreshing shower, Kaito went to his closet seeking out something nice to wear instead of simply throwing on pajamas. With much thoughtful consideration, he chose a short sleeve V-neck grey top and a pair of semi-tight blue jeans. Spiffy yet casual enough to in no way be obvious about him trying to look good for his extremely good looking new room mate.

Nope, not at all.

Though once he got dressed, Kaito ran back into the bathroom to spray on his best smelling cologne.

But still, this wouldn't make things any more obvious then they already weren't!

Hold on, his hair was looking a mess. Better fix that! He grabbed a comb to smooth out a few rebellious strands but ended up styling his bangs to sweep to the side. Then styled the rest of the hair to match.

Ok, maybe this was being a teensy weensy bit obvious but not by much!

Uh-oh, now his jaw line was far more prominent with his hair this way. Kaito started running his fingers along it …should he shave off the stubble or keep it? A clean shave would show he's a well groomed gentleman but the light stubble gave him that rugged sexy look. Which would Len prefer?

Wait, Kaito didn't know if Len was romantically attracted to guys or not. Well, there was only one way to find out!

Back in the living room Len was standing by the glass patio door watching the sun set with a distant, dreamy expression painted on his face. He had changed outfits as well, currently clad in a black leather jacket that reached mid thigh, black dress pants, and a white button up shirt with the first three buttons undone. His hair was combed for the first time Kaito had seen, and in a low side ponytail that was resting on his right shoulder. Was there no limit to how hot Len can be?

Putting on his most charming smile, Kaito went over to the blonde and asked in an alluring voice, "Enjoying the view?"

Len's head sharply turned to his direction, "Oh! Uh hi there and yeah, I just really like sun sets," his nose started to wiggle, "Are you wearing cologne?"

"Yes."

"And did you do something different with your hair?"

"I just did a little bit of styling...Ah, and this five O' clock shadow! I was planning on shaving it off but do you think it looks good as is?"

"Yeah its fine, you look great!"

_Now was the perfect opportunity! _"That's good because there is this guy I really like-uh, before I go on how do you feel about two guys dating and such? And would you ever go out with a guy?"

"I'm cool with it since I am gay and only if the right guy were to come along."

_YES! Everything was falling beautifully into place!_

Len's cell phone suddenly started going off and he made a beeline for the door, "My ride's here, I gotta go! Have a good night Kaito and good luck with your date!"

"Seeya Len, you too-wait, what!? I'm not going on a date!"

But he had already left, with Kaito unsure if Len heard him or not.

_Dammit! I was way too unobvious!_

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks so much for all of the reviews of the one previous! ^^ You guys are awesome! Also thank you to those who faved, followed, and/or simply read.


	3. Chapter 3

The misunderstanding needed to be cleared up pronto!

Due to Len being asleep when Kaito awoke that next morning, he had no choice but to wait until after work to set things right. En route to the ice cream shop the thought of sending Len a text or leaving a voice message over the phone came along but was dismissed pretty quickly. Something like this needed to be done face to face, especially because of the off chance the dialogue led to feelings being confessed and that would _really_ need to be done in person.

…

Those eight hours felt more like eight centuries the way they dragged on and on. When it was finally time to clock out for the day, Kaito jumped into his car then put that petal to the metal! He arrived at his apartment complex in record time and swiftly jogged through the parking lot on into the main building. The bluenette was extremely tempted to just run up the stairs since his body was overflowing with energy but reasoned the elevator would still be the fastest mode of transportation. Also, regardless of how the adrenaline running through his veins made him feel, Kaito was NOT in peak physical condition. He'd be bent over heaving by the time he got to the third floor. And that was probably giving too much credit.

Stuck being idle in the elevator, Kaito began tapping his foot to the beat of the bland music to keep occupied until he reached his designated floor. The very second that seven lit up, he sprung through those opening doors as if he were in the one-hundred meter dash and rammed straight into someone, knocking their hat to the floor.

"I am so sorry-,"

"Kaito?"

"LEN?!" Kaito wasn't sure whether to be thrilled or horrified about this development. He went down to pick up the black cap but Len was already reaching for it and in classical romance movie fashion, their hands touched. Both retracted, looking directly into each other's eyes with Kaito blurting out, "I wasn't on a date last night!"

Len remained quietly confused as he put his cap back on before realization hit, "Oh that! Sorry for having assumed."

"It's ok, I understand how that could've been easily misconstrued," he replied nervously then continued on in a softer, more relaxed voice, "I also want you to know that I am single but very interested in finding love. And I've always heard that usually it's the person right in front of you that is your perfect ma-," then he realized Len was no longer crouched in front of him and had missed all of that, "Len?! Where did you-?!"

"Sorry but I really gotta go right now! I can't be late for work." the blonde apologized sheepishly from within the elevator.

Kaito immediately hopped onto his feet and walked towards him, "I didn't mean to hold you up! Talk later?"

"Sure, see ya-wait! There is this one thing I wanted to tell you, due to what had happened yesterday…"

"Wh-wha-what is it?!" Kaito started leaning into the elevator, arms ready to keep those doors from daring to try and close before Len could say whatever it was he was about to say.

"Since you seemed to have really liked the salmon I made, I whipped up some meatloaf and there's plenty of it so have as much as you like! Ok, have a goodnight Kaito, bye!"

The elevator doors shut without any opposition, leaving a slightly disappointed Kaito to stare at his own reflection in them. _Ah well, at least the misunderstanding was resolved._ And there was a home cooked meatloaf waiting for him at home. Len really was a great room mate, how did Kaito get so lucky? There had been a lot of other people placing ads in search for new roomies so what led Len to choose his?

_Gah, that's right!_ Kaito needed to take down his own ad and contact all the other applicants that had been interviewed.

But not until after dinner.

…

Leon's name was first on the list and so Kaito dialed him. The cell rang about three times before he picked up.

"Hmmm, we just got off the phone, you started missing me already baby~?" the man cooed seductively.

"Excuse me?!"

"Huh?! Who is-," a very short, very awkward pause ensued until Leon broke it with an overly cheerful, "Kaito! Kaito! Good Evening! How's it going? Have you been doing good? I sure hope so!"

"I just wanted to let you know the room mate position has been filled."

"I take it that means I was…rejected?"

"Yeah, sorry but thank you for applying."

Leon released a small frustrated groan but brightened right back up, "Then I hope you and your new room mate get along well. If he turns out to be a good-for-nothing bum, I will still be available! I'll even pay one full month's rent in advance!"

"I'll keep that in mind, have a good evening-,"

"Did I say one month? I meant to say two months! Two months!"

"I'll take note of that then, good-,"

"Three?"

"BYE!"

_*Click*_

One down, two to go. The phone was in its first mid-ring before Piko abruptly answered, "Good evening! Are you calling because I got the position!? I'm ready to move in right away!"

"Actually, I'm calling because the position has already been filled."

"Shame. We could've achieved great things together you and I Kaito. But we still can! All you would have to do is donate some dinero to help fund my experiments! Now, I can't say what I'm working on, you just never know who's listening! But I assure you it's something so revolutionary that it will be in exorbitantly high demand on a global scale, making all who assisted in its development become filthy rich! The more generous your donation, the sooner my project will be complete, and the more you'll earn back! Not to mention, of course, the satisfaction of having aided in the pursuit of the betterment of this planet!"

"I'll think about it, thanks. Good bye."

_*Click*_

Thankfully his call to Big AL went straight to voice mail. Taking the ad down from the website was simple enough and now with nothing else important left to do, Kaito went to change into his jammies and watch some TV until he passed out.

…

The rest of the week was wholly uneventful with Kaito getting home just as Len was leaving. He found it strange how his room mate never seemed to have any nights off. Even the day he moved in Len still left for work, albeit later then when he commonly headed out now. The night club had to be giving him time off right? Unless…did Len secretly have another job on the side?

For the day before his own day off, Kaito managed to switch his afternoon shift with another manager's for the morning slot. This way he would get home early enough to be able to chat with Len. Unfortunately, it also meant he would have to be awake before sunrise, which he (barely) was at the moment. He shuffled his feet in a way a zombie would from his nice, warm bed to the cold tiled bathroom. The following hot shower helped to bring him to a more human like, half conscious state and, once getting his work clothes on, exited the bedroom to go retrieve some breakfast. That would hopefully wake him up the rest of the way. Especially since it was going to be the heated leftover's of Len's latest meal creation.

The living room was still pretty dark; the sun wouldn't be making its debut for a few more hours. But the light over the kitchen stove was dimly glowing with Len's upper torso completely slouched over the counter pitifully trying to sip a protein shake straight out of the can. He was looking more like a zombie then Kaito had when he first rolled out of bed.

"Len? Did you just get back?" He asked making his way to the blonde's side.

"Mmmhmmm," he moaned slowly. Len sounded really out of it.

"Do you want to take a seat at the table? Or on the couch or I could carry you to your bed-,"

"No," He gripped the can a little tighter; tilting it to his lips but nearly all of the liquid dribbled down his chin and onto the counter top.

Kaito moved his nose in as close to Len's face as he could without actually touching and took a few sniffs. He didn't smell alcohol, smoke, or anything else out of the ordinary. Satisfied for the time being, the bluenette went to grab a glass and a straw from the nearby cabinets and drawers.

"Len, let me…," he said softly, gently prying the drink from his hands. Len didn't say a word, silently observing the man before him with a blank expression. Kaito poured the can empty into the glass then added the straw. "Here." He aimed the straw for Len's lips; having to gently poke them a couple of times before the blonde opened up and started sucking on it. The more shake that was gulped down, the more awake Len became.

Once it was all gone, he whispered, "Thank you."

"No problem but what happened to you?"

"I…I had a lot of shows scheduled tonight."

"Does this occur often?"

"No, I just took on more work then usual."

Kaito could only imagine the extreme exhaustion Len must be feeling if he had spent all night dancing. Counting from the time Len left to now, he must've been performing for ...way too many hours! That couldn't be good for any one's body, even one in as good a shape as Len's. No wonder he's acting the way he is! "Why did you do so much!?"

"Why not? I was able to handle it!" He shrunk a little under Kaito's glare, "What?"

"Do you ever have or take time off?"

"No! If I can work I am going to work!"

Kaito admired the spirit, but still a person needed to know their limits. "Do you do other things besides stripping?"

"No."

"You mean you're working at the club every single night?!"

"No. I'm usually only scheduled there two nights a week. Some times three."

"What are you doing the rest of the week?!"

"Random parties at various venues or houses."

"Oh."_ Why hadn't I guessed that!?_

Len began yawning, his small energy burst fading rapidly.

Kaito moved in to pick up his drowsy roomie bridal style before he fell onto the kitchen floor. With much groaning from the both of them, he managed to get Len up into his arms, "Time for bed."

"I can walk on my…," his voice trailed off as he wearily laid his head against the bluenette's chest.

Kaito's heart skipped a couple of beats but now was no time to go weak at the knees; he had to safely carry Len to his room. The blonde was proving to be much heavier then anticipated. Kaito took his time, one foot after the other, slowly but surely making his way over. The door was thankfully opened so he just used his elbow to push it back enough to allow comfortable passage. The room was nigh pitch black with the bluenette barely able to make out where the bed was.

"Going down," Kaito warned gently lowering him. Len appeared already fast asleep so he removed his shoes and moved him further up the bed, then pulled one of the sheets all the way to his shoulders. He stayed by the bed's side for a short while but when the sound of light snoring reached his ears, Kaito left to return to his own room. There, he set his alarm clock ten minutes earlier then where he previously had it.

From now on, he would make sure to be up when Len came home.

…..

Bright and early the next morning, Kaito was standing by the kitchen counter drinking some orange juice. After he took two big swigs, the front door opened with Len entering carrying a large white bag. When his bluish-green eyes fell on Kaito, he let out a suprised gasp.

"Welcome home!" Kaito greeted happy to see his room mate wasn't in a death like state this time around.

"Wha-what are you doing up this late again!?"

"Yesterday I had to go to work early but today-," he put on a flirty smile, "-I just felt like it."

"Uh-huh…anyway since you're awake, here!" He held out the bag towards him. "It's all yours."

"For me?" Kaito took the bag, placed it on the counter and found within it multiple packages of delicious looking food, "Wow thank you! Where did you get all of this!?"

"An office party, they gave me and my bodyguard all the leftovers. But I'm on a diet so I can't really eat much of the food so please have at it."

"Ooooh, what happened at this office party?"

"Huh?"

"I asked what happened at the office party! Like how did it go? What went down, that sort of thing."

"You…you care?"

"YES! Now, if you're not too tired, come over here and tell me all about it!" Kaito sat down at the dining room table with a fork and one of the food packages.

Len took a seat right across from him, a freshly opened can of protein shake in hand. "Ok, since you really want to know…though this is kind of weird for me."

"You don't have to-,"

Len shook his head, "I don't mind, it's just that this is my first time talking casually to some one I don't work with or for about this."

"Really?!"

Sadness crept into his features, "Ok that wasn't entirely true. There was one other, the person I lived with before coming here. He…he got really pissed and kicked me out."

_Yikes._ "Is that why you were so nervous about telling me you stripped?"

He nodded.

"You definitely don't have to worry about that happening with me! I very much enjoyed the little dance you did for me when we first met. By the way, why had you done that?"

"Like you said, I was really nervous and so I thought it would be easier to just let my body do the talking."

_Hnnnnnnnnng._ "I see." Kaito put on a teasing grin, "Hey, while you're telling me about this office party, if there are events easier shown then described, like all of the parts where you stripped, please do!"

Len started laughing, "Nice try but I'm not giving you any more freebies!"

"Awww!"

"So anyway the party had been for this lady… She was the head of the department that was throwing the party. I was supposed to pretend to be applying for a spot in the company's intern program and being willing to do _anything_ to get it…"

* * *

Fun note: The department head's name was Ms. Megurine.

Len's body guard/driver will be revealed in later chapters. Thank you so much for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

"We're almost there, come on! We need to hurry up!" Kaito urged leading Len up a long, winding mountain trail. While he was heavily panting and sweating bullets, his blond companion was just barely beginning to perspire.

"Sure we shouldn't take a break instead?" Len suggested, eyeing the man before him worriedly.

"No! We're too close and I don't want you to miss this!"

"But we covered a lot of ground as is and-,"

Kaito grabbed Len's hand and yanked forward, "We can rest when we get there, which will be soon! Now let's get going!"

"If you insist…"

The number of surrounding trees slowly thinned out as they continued on and a nice breeze caressed their bodies, cooling the duo for the split second it passed by. In decent time the woods completely opened up to a grassy clearing that looked straight out of a watercolor painting; with it all gently tapering off into a narrow cliff. And just beyond that was the sun beginning its grand descent below the horizon, bathing the entire environment in varying gorgeous hues of reds and oranges. Both men took a seat having finally arrived at their destination and, aside from the scattered sounds of nature in the distance; silence was shared for the whole duration of the spectacle.

"And this is why I had wanted us to keep going so badly," Kaito whispered as the last few rays of sun disappeared. The afternoon heat was replaced by the evening's much welcomed coolness and the plentiful grass was mercifully soft against his aching lower body. The blue haired male was extremely worn out from that intense hike but seeing the look currently on the face of the one closest to him made it all feel worth it.

"That was…whoa! How did you find a place like this?"

"Well, you know…internet," He admitted casually placing an arm around the blonde's broad shoulders.

Len laughed a little, closing his eyes and laying his head against the bluenette's still heaving chest, "So you went through all this trouble just so we could see this together?"

"Yep~"

He moved back a bit and gazed deeply into dark blue eyes, "Kaito, there is something I've been meaning to tell you. It's that I …I…,"

_Was this it? Was this the moment!? _"Wha-what is it?"

"…it would be easier to just show you," Len smirked seductively, moving his lips up towards Kaito's.

The bluenette quickly leaned in to close the distance…

…Only to end up with a face full of carpet due to falling out of bed. The blankets still wrapped around him went tumbling as well, burying his legs within them.

"Damn it! That was a dream?" Kaito muttered grumpily still only half awake. He spat out some dust bunnies before reaching for his nightstand, which took quite the effort due to his sheets still holding his legs hostage and retrieved his cell phone. He fell heavily to the ground on his elbows and, hissing from that momentary discomfort, Kaito checked the time to see that he slept through a good chunk of his day off. But it was ok since he had woken up super early to chat with Len.

Then suddenly things were not ok.

There was no way his dream was coming true anytime soon. Not after that morning's conversation. Things went well at first, with Len cheerfully chatting about the office party but when Kaito started asking Len why he had chosen to get into stripping in the first place (trying to explore deeper into his personal life), his roomie immediately announced that he was tired and left the dining room with a polite but hasty good night. That made Kaito realize Len was still not very comfortable with him in that regard. This wasn't too surprising since they had been living together only for little over a week with less then two hour's worth of dialogue having been exchanged in total. And that needed to change!

Kaito already planned to be in the habit of awaking in the wee hours of the morning to converse with Len about "lighter", more casual topics until they got closer. Getting to see him before work in the late afternoon would be harder to do as frequently but he needed to optimize whatever time Len was home for getting to know him better! And in turn for Len to get to know him better. After the blonde had hit the hay, Kaito got to plotting. Len always cooked when he first got up so what if he did the cooking instead? That'd save Len time and may even impress him since the bluenette made such a fuss about sucking at all food preparation related activities. So to the computer Kaito went to search for easy-to-make- healthy recipes but while scouring the internet for them, he ended up falling asleep.

Until now.

Kaito wrestled his lower limbs from the confines of the blankets and snagged his laptop from atop his keyboard chair, then got re-settled on the top of his bed whilst placing the shiny silver machine on his lap. It gently hummed as it came back to life, displaying all twenty tabs its owner opened several hours ago. Blue eyes darted all around the brightly lit screen, choices being narrowed down until only ten tabs remained. Then the list was further cut to a top five a good half an hour later. Now it was getting really difficult to decide, everything looked so tasty… but could he really pull any of these off? Yes they were all easy to do but still-wait! What if he tried asking Len for assistance? Wouldn't that make a really great way to get closer to him?

_RING! RING!_

The sudden noise startled him out of his current thoughts. _Is that Meiko?_ Kaito scooped up his cell from the floor with the number being displayed proving his first guess wrong. "Hi Ring!"

"Good Afternoon Kaito!" was the extremely happy, sing-song reply from the lady on the other end, "Are you at home or at work right now?"

"I'm at home."

"Fantastic! I'm just ten minutes from your place and I seriously need to speak with you so may I come over?

"Is everything alright?"

"It is! I just have stuff to discuss with you about the bachelorette party! It's three days away you know!"

And Kaito forgot about it _again_, causing him to feel guilty. Sure Meiko and he were no where near as close as they used to be but she was still an important person in his life. She had been the only one still by him during one of his darkest hours…

"So is it ok if I come over?"

"Sure it's fine," Kaito replied slowly, being careful to not allow the tone of his voice to reflect how his mood just dropped.

"Great! See you in eight!"

_Click._

Kaito plopped his laptop on the bed beside him, dropped the phone on top with a light clatter and then jumped off from the mattress; quickly discarding his pajamas and trading them for a white T-shirt decorated with a single, bold navy blue stripe down the left side and a pair of blue jeans. Leaving his bedroom to go and anticipate Ring's arrival while watching some TV, he saw the door to Len's room and figured it'd be best to let him know there was going to be a guest even if there was a good chance he'd probably sleep through her entire visit.

He knocked twice before calling out,"Len?"

No response.

He knocked again, "Len?" This time, there was a low mumble from the other side of the door. It was too quiet for Kaito to make out any actual words though, "Are you up? I just wanted to tell you real quick-,"

"Come in," came a very clear, almost commanding reply.

_Yes sir!_ Kaito immediately did as told. The interior of the room was pretty dark for it still being daylight out, Len having added very thick black curtains to the only large window inside. It was also sparsely furnished: just those curtains, a bed, a giant rectangular gold framed stand mirror, a very tall golden floor lamp, and the dresser he'd seen the movers bring in. There were items on top of the dresser but they were in the darkest corner of the room so it was hard to make out what they were. A few weights were peeking out from underneath the bed but Kaito's eyes were fixated on what was on top of it. They were locked on and thoroughly absorbing every patch of exposed, toned, peachy colored skin of the completely unclothed figure lying there. A white blanket was present but it only covered from the knees down. Len was sleeping on his side, with his body positioned at an angle where his front side was entirely hidden from Kaito's view but the curves of his backside weren't. The mirror only reflected from Len's lower thigh down so his groin region couldn't be seen unless Kaito took a couple more steps forward...

Len lifted his head slightly from off a pillow, his hair wild and out and completely obscuring his face. He asked softly, sounding very sleepy, "Kaito…is that you?"

The way his voice sounded in this state came off as incredibly sexy to the bluenette, causing his entire body to shiver in rapidly growing desire. "Yeah," Kaito breathed heavily.

The blonde sat up a little more, resting his entire upper body on one elbow, "What did you want?"

_You._ "Ah…," Kaito's hand started running down the door until it re-found the knob, to which it latched onto extremely tightly. Len was still speaking in that 'unintentionally sexy' voice and those words combined with that pose and the fact he was entirely naked: The heat was melting away huge chunks of Kaito's self control by the millisecond. "I-I wanted to tell you that I have a friend coming over to talk about a Bachelorette party!"

Not much of that registered for Len. "Huh? We're having a party?"

"No, I mean there will be one but-," Kaito half choked when Len suddenly sat the rest of the way up and turned fully forward to face him. With the increasing amount of pressure the hand gripping it was exerting, that door knob was about to be crushed. Sure Len's feet and lower legs were still covered by the blanket…but the rest of him sure wasn't! So many naughty thoughts raced through his mind but no! Rushing into physical intimacy at this point in their 'relationship' would be a very bad idea! Things needed to be taken slowly...

"But what?" the blonde leaned backwards, arching his back and letting out a long yawn.

Kaito's right eye twitched, "Wee wee-!" he forced himself to focus on Len's face, "Week! Weekend! Weekend part-party!"

Len's head fell back among the pillows and he lifted his legs up, spreading them widely, "Ok. Good night then."

The breaking point was finally reached.

"GOOD NIGHT, BYE!" Kaito twirled out of the room on his heel and slammed the door shut. He sprinted for the bathroom in his own room, set the water to the coldest it could go and leapt in with clothes still on. A quick flick of his wrist released freezing liquid against his heated body, drenching him fully. He needed to cool off before Ring came over! How much longer before she arrived? Three minutes? Two? _Damn it,__ um, let's try thinking of …of… Old Granny Shion in the buff! YUCK! Yes! It's working! Ugh, my stomach though…_

Kaito began disrobing, haphazardly throwing his soaked clothing into a wet pile on the white tiled floor. By the time he was completely bare, his passion was all but gone and, after shutting off the water, he could hear the faint sound of some one knocking on the front door.

_Crap!_

He went flying out of the bathroom and into his closet, throwing on whatever could be yanked off a hanger easiest. The two chosen items was a long blue, white, and black paint splatter patterned T-shirt with dark blue pants that he was pulling up while hopping over to the front door. He forgot about putting on underwear but really, who'd notice he was going commando?

"Is that someone-?" Len questioned suddenly peering from behind his bedroom door right after Kaito managed to secure the pants around his waist.

"I got it!" The bluenette reassured pressing an eyeball against the peep hole to make sure it was Ring doing the knocking. Spying the familiar bushel of long light blue hair wrapped up neatly in a bun, he proceeded to undoing the locks and opening the door. By this point, Len had already retreated back into his room.

"Hi, welcome!" Kaito greeted with his biggest, whitest smile.

"Thank you! It has been awhile huh?" Ring smiled just as brightly, "I'm happy to see you've been keeping the apartment in good shape!" She walked inside carrying a large navy blue shoulder strap bag and wearing a white blouse type shirt with long puffy sleeves, a long dark blue skirt, and matching dark blue pumps. It was obvious she had come straight there from her job.

"Uh yeah! Thanks," Kaito replied locking up. Turning back to the young woman, Ring was giving him a strange look. "What?"

"Are things going well for you?"

"Of course!"

Ring continued analyzing him for a few more seconds before moving on. "Not sure if Meiko told you but I have been assigned as the official party planner for this event and I have been visiting everyone on the confirmed list to go over things with. First subject I'd like to discuss with you is the food because I need to submit a menu in for the caterers pronto!"

"Sounds good," Kaito led her to the dining room where they sat down and Ring pulled out manila folder after manila folder after manila folder from her bag. "Is this all for the food?!"

"Yeah, I needed to account for everyone's different tastes and to order plenty of it since all you men eat so much!" She explained slapping down the final food related folder. Meiko had always preferred the company of guys over gals and thus accumulated many male friends through out the years. Her fiancé, Tonio, was one of those friends but ended up becoming much more to her within months of their first meeting. "Honestly, this is more of a giant reunion party then a Bachelorette party. Everyone Meiko had known is going to be there!"

"_Everyone_? Including the traitors?"

Ring hesitated from answering right away, "Yes…are you going to be ok with that?"

"I already promised I would be coming, hadn't I?" Kaito muttered frustrated. He was starting to regret that decision but was conflicted because he did want to be there for Meiko.

"Hey, think of the bright side! This party could be a great way to help dilute some of that bad blood! Meiko has made peace with the guys and I spoke to them too, letting bygones be bygones. And you should know I was just as livid as you were about what had gone down!"

He nodded, "Yeah, I remember." _Funny, Meiko hadn't told me she got in contact with them again…and there is no way I'll be letting 'bygones be bygones'! _

"Wish I could've been there with you and Meiko the night it happened."

"It was better you hadn't, I would've hated for you to have seen us that way."

She pouted but then gently pounded the table with her fist, forcing a smile back on her face; "Back to business now!" she opened up one of the folders which contained documents detailing every single ingredient of the dish it was describing, "This is one of the more popular picks…"

During the conversation, Kaito was not only considering his own tastes but Len's as well based off what he's cooked so far. Would Len want to come to this party with him? He'd have to ask later because if so, then going there would become much more bearable. _But Len is the workaholic type so he'd probably refuse to take the time off for it …_

A good while later the menu discussion finally came to a close and Ring immediately began dialing the number of her chosen catering service for the event. Before she inputted the final digit into her phone, she slipped her Ipod from out her bag and slid it towards him, "Playlist for the party, take a listen!"

Kaito picked up the slim music player, putting on the pearly blue ear buds connected to it. As Ring placed her giant order, the bluenette was quietly bobbing his head to each track. He could easily tell by the genres and styles which one of his several old buddies made what. It was such wonderful nostalgia! That is, until he heard a song that was very obviously made by his ex-boyfriend. _Skip_. Everything else was fun to listen too; thankfully nothing had been entered by the other "traitors". _How could Meiko and Ring have made peace with them?!_ He removed the headphones to let Ring know he was done and she was just getting off her cell.

"What did you think?"

"I think it's great! Very solid list."

"Did you listen to track eleven?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"Yes…"

"Kaito?"

"Hearing the first ten seconds counts, doesn't it?"

She giggled, "Did you have any music made? Meiko mentioned you told her you were working on something!"

Kaito shrunk in his seat a little, "I was-,"

"Was?"

He shrunk a little more, "But I scrapped it."

"WHAT?! I was looking forward to hearing a new song from you! Back in the day you could NOT stop coming out with new stuff!"

"That was then and this is now," he grumbled laying his head down.

Ring wanted to continue on but figured it was best to drop it, "Fine but I do have one last thing to talk to you about!"

"Hmmm?"

"What Bachelorette party is complete without-" She stood up and with arm's spread wide, announced loudly, "-STRIPPERS!"

Kaito suddenly burst out laughing.

"Huh? Was it that funny?" Ring sat back down with a confused look on her face.

"I'm sorry it's just that…never mind, please continue!" _This could be the perfect way to get Len to come! Why hadn't I thought of it earlier?! _

"Hehe, glad to see your sprits back up! I was wondering if you had any recommendations for some good male strippers?"

Kaito grinned, "Oh do I! And did I ever tell you I got a new room mate?"

"Fantastic! And no you did not, when was this and is he nice? Cute?"

"About a week ago and I'll let you see for yourself, if he's awake now." It was getting late, the time having flown by pretty quickly.

"He's here?"

"Yeah," Kaito jogged over to Len's bedroom door then started knocking, "Hey, are you still asleep in there? I may have found you a gig if you're interest-,"

The door suddenly opened with Len staring up at him with larger then usual eyes, "I'm interested!" He was already dressed sharply in a quarter sleeve button up gold, tan and brown glass stained patterned shirt with the first three buttons undone exposing plenty of neck and collar bone, and black jeans hanging very low on his hips. His hair was combed back in a tidy low ponytail.

Kaito crossed his arms, smiling "How long have you been eavesdropping?"

Len grinned, "I didn't want to impose."

"Come on you," the blue eyed man chuckled, motioning Len to follow to the dining room. When they got there, his friend stared at the blonde intensely, "Ring, I would like to introduce you to my new room mate who happens to be a professional stripper who I recommend greatly!"

"Well hello there handsome!" Ring sang starry eyed, making no attempt to hide the fact she was checking him out from head to toe, "So you're a professional huh? Would a small demonstration of your abilities be too much to ask?"

"Not at all, I'd be more then happy too."

She immediately grabbed the chair she had been sitting in previously, dragged it over to in front of Len and then sat down tapping the top of her thighs excitedly. "Then let's see what you got!"

"As you wish," He walked up fairly close to Ring, almost straddling her and began swirling his hips to an imaginary beat.

Kaito was feeling a little envious about her getting a lap dance but tried to just keep focus on Len's motions only. His room mate stylishly turned around so his back was to Ring and nimbly began unbuttoning his shirt while still gyrating. All that concentration and muscle control was a fascinatingly sexy sight.

"Is touching allowed?" She asked eyeing Len's shapely bum hungrily as it swung from side to side.

He peeked over his shoulder at her, "Depends where."

"I was thinking your butt," she whispered giggled.

Len slowly bent over and wiggled his buttocks at her, "I'll ok one small squeeze."

If it was humanly possible, the bluenette's jaw would've slammed through the table and hit the floor; possibly breaking through that too. _So this is how Len acts on the job eh?  
_

Ring tentatively tapped each cheek before digging her hands right in, giving a mighty squeeze that caused Len to wince a little. He quickly stood back to his full height, slipping his shirt to the floor. "Ok and that'll be all for the demo dance!"

Ring fanned herself a little, "That was great! Ahem, so how far do you usually strip down too in a full show?"

"This," He unzipped his jeans and pulled them down only low enough to reveal the top of the black band of his boxer briefs. "Thongs too…and sometimes, I'll even remove that~"

Ring's face went completely red, "Oh-Oh-OH! Well, since this party is for a bride to be, only down to underwear would be preferred but do you also do private house calls?! And what's your pay rate?!"

Len reached into his back jean's pocket and drew out a small rectangular piece of paper, "My business card, this'll answer all your questions!"

"_He's certainly prepared!" _Kaito thought impressed. He was incredibly glad he wouldn't have to worry about watching Len swing his bare junk in Meiko's face. Or anyone else at the party-_oh god_, what if his ex-boyfriend requests a lap dance from Len?! And that man definitely would too. Kaito hadn't quite thought this one through…

"I will most certainly be giving you a call back because you are so hired! Thank you Kaito for everything today! And I will see you both at the party on Saturday! It's gonna be a blast!" Ring cheerfully gathered all of her folders and placed them neatly back in her bag, "Have a good evening boys!"

Both Kaito and Len returned her farewells, with Len walking her to the door and Ring slipping a few large bills into his front jeans pocket for the demo and the butt squeeze. Kaito was still sitting at the table quietly contemplating whether or not he should go to this party after all. Meiko would understand if he suddenly came down with the flu, right?

"Thank you so much Kaito for having recommended me for this gig!"

His head jerked in the direction of the voice and Len was right beside him, his crotch nearly level with Kaito's line of vision. The jeans had slipped further down his hips and his bulge was sitting neatly atop the zipper.

"N-no problem," Kaito stuttered quickly darting his eyes upward to the blonde's face. He did greatly enjoy the view going up since the younger male was still shirtless.

Yeah, another cold shower was in his immediate future.

Len had noticed exactly where the bluenette had just been looking a few seconds ago. "Right, sorry about earlier, I thought I had been wearing underwear before I invited you in." He took two fingers and gently pushed his bugle in and to the side, slowly pulling the zipper up as he did.

Kaito laughed nervously, forcing him self to look out towards the living room but still glanced over to his right several times until Len's fly was properly closed, "Don't worry about, about that! Being naked in front of people is your job, isn't it? or at least part of it?"

"I rarely do full on nudity," Kaito could hear him moving away from his side, "but um…," Len's face suddenly re-appeared right in front of him, his upper torso lying atop the table's surface propped up by two leanly muscled arms, and his lips coming within mere centimeters of Kaito's. With a huge grin, Len teased, "Had you liked what you saw?"

Kaito's face went ruby red beneath his sapphire bangs as he silently stared extreme shock.

_Did Len just-?!_

_Does this mean that he-?!_

_There is no way my room mate can be this hot!_

* * *

Will this be Kaito's lucky day? Please stay tuned for the next chapter!

And I am so sorry for taking so long to update! I've just been so scatterbrained with all of my projects as of late OTL But I plan on seeing this story to the end so I won't be dropping it, even if new chapters come out a bit slowly and I hope you enjoyed this one! ^^

Thank you so much for the reviews, I do read and appreciate them! Also a big thanks to those who fav, follow, read, etc.


	5. Chapter 5

Len's eyes, appearing almost entirely blue in the current lighting, were busily scanning every inch of Kaito's face for even the smallest bit of reaction. While the outside of his room mate's body was completely still, unknowingly to the blond, everything inside of it was racing wildly-especially the heart and brain with Kaito trying to figure out exactly what was going on to the best of his ability before all of his blood finished running downstairs. Was Len actually flirting with him or just teasing? Or teasing him in a flirty manner? How was Kaito to respond? In a flirty way? A teasing way? A teasingly flirty way?

The seconds were ticking and with each one, Len's grin slowly curved downwards into a nervous frown. Not good, something needed to be said real soon so Kaito inhaled deeply, incidentally taking in the alluring aroma that was coming from his current romantic interest, then rapidly exhaled blurting out the best, most honest, and safest reply he could think of on such short notice: "YES!"

An amused chortle escaped Len's lips, "Is that your final answer?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be-," _Did he just laugh? Is this just him teasing me after all!?_ "-Wait, what are you asking me this for?!"

His room mate laughed and lifted his chiseled torso from the table, "Because the way you were staring when you first woke me up made me think I had a giant pimple on my butt or some place." Len's expression turned to legitimate concern, "There wasn't one was there? I-I checked in the mirror and felt all over my body for one-,"

"No, no, no, no, I didn't see anything of the sort!"

"So that means you were just checking me out? Phew, I was worried over nothing after all! Thanks Kaito!"

_Does he realize what he just said?! And so casually at that?! Eh, better question would be why am I surprised? He's gotta be one of the world's hottest strippers, of course he'd be used to being checked out because his job revolves around that happening! Plus, who wouldn't check him out? Me doing it isn't anything special. _"No problem."

Dark golden locks disappeared from Kaito's view as Len ducked down to quickly pick up his shirt from the floor. The conversation was going pretty good so far! Much better then the morning chat but with Len silently putting his shirt back on alongside Kaito quietly watching, there was nothing more to add. Yet, the bluenette was still in a social mood and the cute little smile Len sent his way as he moved away from the table indicated he may still be too. All that was needed was a topic change with the perfect subject popping into Kaito's head as his room mate entered the kitchen area. "Hey Len, what's your favorite food?"

The blond looked in his direction for a second, "Huh?"

"Your favorite food, I was curious about what it is."

Len shrugged, "I don't know, a lot of stuff." He proceeded to opening the refrigerator door but paused right after, "What about you? Anything you'd like for dinner tonight?"

At first Kaito was going to answer 'whatever you want to make is fine' but remembered all those recipes he looked up and wanting to suggest some one on one cooking lessons though before he could ask, Len suddenly spoke up after rummaging through the fridge with, "Wait, there's still all that food from the office party. Probably should finish that before it goes bad."

"Right, I'll take care of it."

"But if you ever have a request, don't be afraid to ask," Len gently bumped one side of his bum against the refrigerator door and as it shut, he walked over to the kitchen counters with arms full of fresh vegetables and a medium sized container sealed with a dull yellow lid full of chicken.

"I appreciate that, really I do! But I feel bad being so dependent on you to cook all the time so I was wondering if you'd be willing to help teach me so I can treat you sometimes!"

"It's not a burden, I like cooking," Len went about washing and ripping leaves from the lettuce he had retrieved, "But if you're serious about learning, you'd have better luck looking up how-too videos on the internet or signing up for a class. My teaching skills are terrible."

"Awwww," _so much for that idea, _"So is cooking a hobby of yours?"

"No, more like a necessity of life that I don't find to be a chore."

"What are your hobbies then?"

"Mmm…," Len hummed thoughtfully, the sound of a knife banging against a wooden cutting board quickly drowning him out. Once that noise came to an end, an answer finally came, "honestly none, whenever I have free time I spend it doing something that will help better my work performance."

"I see…well, I like writing songs in my spare time."

Then there was silence. A very awkward silence, at least for Kaito it was. It had been so long since he'd told anyone about that so waiting for Len's reaction was pretty nerve-racking as a result. _But_ _I'm probably stressing over nothing, it's not like he'll think badly of me. If anything, he could be mildly interested since he's an exotic dancer and dances to music all the time. Oh no, what if he asks to hear a sample of my music? I don't have any recent tracks and my older ones…what if he HATES those and then hates me for making them? That'll undo everything between us so far! Crap, hadn't he eavesdropped on Ring and I's conversation? How much did he hear? He probably already knows I-_

The gentle clatter of a plate and cup being placed on the table right across from Kaito pulled him from his paranoia. Len took a seat post haste the dishes' landing and asked in a very curious tone, "What about songs?"

"Um, I listen to them…?"

"Same here, what kind of stuff are you into?"

"Oh, well I, err –you should start! What kind of music do you like Len?" And the guys chatted for awhile and at the conclusion of the discussion both learned they were into a lot of the same stuff, especially rock bands. Kaito couldn't be more thrilled as well as put at ease seeing how laid back Len was about their few clashing opinions.

"Have you ever been to a live concert?" the blond asked having swallowed the last of his chicken salad.

"Several during my high school and college years, they were great! Haven't been to one since because life."

"I hear you, I've always wanted to go to one myself but I never had the time cause of work. But after retirement I definitely will!"

"When do you plan on retiring?"

"Isn't the average age for that sixty five?"

"YOU'RE GONNA BE A STRIPPER UNTIL YOU'RE SIXTY FIVE?!"

He shrugged, "I'd rather wait until seventy. Seventy seems like really nice round number to retire on."

_How is that any better?!_ All Kaito knew was the second he qualified for retirement benefits, he'd kiss the old nine to five grind goodbye. "Ah, if you ever decide you want to go to a concert before then, let me know. We could go together."

"I'll keep that in mind," Len stood up with the now empty plate and glass in hand.

The bluenette made a mental note to look up concert dates for all of the bands and artists Len named as his favorites pronto. Hopefully his roomie could be convinced to go to one before Kaito turned seventy-six. _  
_

"Is it ok if I ask you something?" Len called from the sink over in the main kitchen area.

"Of course!"

"You mentioned you had been in college, what did you study there?"

"I majored in music. I was also a member of a rock band that I wrote a bunch of songs for," Kaito announced, being much more confident about it then before.

The water from the sink was abruptly shut off and Len ran straight back to the table, dragging over a chair and sitting directly in front of his blue haired apartment mate. "You used to be a rock star?!"

Out of all the reactions Kaito imagined, this was the absolute last one he expected. But this proved Len hadn't done much eavesdropping; his attention was probably caught only after Ring screamed at the top of her lungs about strippers_._ "No, I definitely wasn't a rock star! For starters, the band never got very far off the ground." _Thanks to those traitors…_

"I can imagine it must be a tough business to break into. So were you the lead singer?"

"My best friend Meiko was lead while I played bass, but I got to do some vocals every now and again."

"Cool, can you play anything outside of the bass?"

"Guitar, drums, keyboard, piano, violin, clarinet and flute to just name a few."

Len's jaw dropped, "To name a few?! Does that mean you can play even more then _that_?"

"I've dabbled with a lot of different instruments back in the day."

"Do you still own all of them?"

"I only have my keyboard, I had to sell everything else to help pay off some of my college debt and rent when I was between room mates._"_

Len pouted, "Will you ever buy them back?"

"Not sure, I don't really play much anymore."

"Not even your keyboard?"

"I still get on it from time to time."

"If you ever decide to play it while I'm home, could I watch?"

Kaito's cheeks turned pink. He hadn't performed for any one in years and to suddenly hear someone wanting to listen...maybe this was the same feeling Len had when he first started sharing his nightly stripping adventures with him. Then secondly, for Len to watch Kaito playing would require him to come into his bedroom_, _"Ok, I definitely will!" _Note to self, clean up my room!_

A bright smile returned to his lips, "Did your band ever record a CD?"

"One yes-," and before Len could squeak out the question the bluenette knew was coming, "-but I don't have any copies of it."

"Can I at least hear you sing a small part of one of your songs real quick before I go? Please?" He leaned in fairly close, making it that much harder for Kaito to keep himself cool, calm, and collected.

The request certainly couldn't be denied due to the irresistibly cute pleading face Len was making, regardless of how super nervous Kaito was. While this was the same situation with him not having played an instrument in front of anyone for a very long time, it was also different in the fact he hasn't sung seriously _period_ in years. But having come this far, why stop now and disappoint? Kaito quickly deduced the best song he'd written to sing based on Len's preferences and went on to perform the first verse and chorus of it. After gently allowing his voice to trail off from the long note he held that ended the chorus, Kaito sheepishly stated, "Sorry, I'm horribly out of practice."

"If that was you at your worst, you at your best must be phenomenal because you sounded amazing! You have an incredible singing voice! And that song, I love it!" Len praised awestruck.

"Thank you." The bluenette replied softly, feverish with happiness. _He liked it! He liked it! Yes!_

"Where did you learn to sing like that?"

"Learn? Erm, I took a lot of classes and just sung a whole bunch either alone or with friends, mainly at karaoke bars-,"

"Karaoke bars?"

"Have you never heard of a Karaoke bar?"

"Yes, who hasn't?!" Len stated defensively, but then continued in a quieter voice "I-I just never been."

"Unacceptable!"

"Huh?!"

"If you're going to be my room mate, you definitely need to go to one!" _Second future date location idea obtained. _

"N-n-n-n-no way, I couldn't!"

_Or not._ "Eh?!"

"I-I, uh, I meant to say I would like too…wouldn't mind…but I…there'd be no time for it! I-I'm always working!" his shyness was starting to return with a vengeance again.

"I could set up a karaoke machine here."

"That's a thing you can do?"

"Yep."

He fidgeted in his seat a little, "Oh-oh. Well…um…"

"What's wrong?"

"I…I…," he breathed in deeply then blurted out, "I can't sing in front of a professional like you!"

"Why not, it'd be just for fun!"

"Think of it this way: What if I asked you to do a lap dance for me?"

"I'd do it in a heartbeat!"

He blinked twice, "Come again?"

"I said I'd do it in a heartbeat. Hell, I'll do it right now if you want!"

"You wouldn't!"

Kaito immediately shot up from his seat and got up as close to Len as he'd seen him get to Ring before the start of that demo dance. "Still think I won't?"

"You're bluffing!"

Kaito begun swinging his hips from side to side for a few seconds before thrusting the air, standing at full height and then slowly bending his knees so to lower himself a bit.

Bright bluish-green eyes watched in amusement until their owner couldn't take it anymore a minute later, "Ok, ok! I believe you! I believe you!" Len giggled covering up his mouth with his hands, "You can stop!"

"But I barely even did anything!"

"I have to go get ready for work! We can continue this later."

As Kaito moved back to give the blond some room to leave his seat, an idea formed in his head. "How about we make a deal? If I give you one full dance, you have to sing one full song for me?"

"A deal you say? How about instead of a lap dance, you do a full on strip tease where you go the full Monty? Then I'll agree."

_Get completely naked?!_ _Isn't that a bit much just for me to get a song in exchange? Well, I did get to see him completely naked already-but that was an accident! A wonderful accident-_

"So?" Len asked in a commanding tone.

"Sure I can't just go down to underwear like you said you usually do for shows?"

"Do you own any sexy pairs?"

"Um…never really thought much about that."

"I can judge for you, let's see what you got on now!"

The words registered but the meaning of them didn't sink in soon enough for Kaito to protest the idea as Len took his index finger and pulled back on the elastic of the bluenette's pants.

Len chuckled, "Looks like I'm not the only one who forgot his underwear today!"

Kaito sputtered out a few random sounds before finally getting out an intelligible, "Long story!"

"I'm already seeing the 'long' part of it but anyway," he released his hold of the band, it snapping back onto his room mate's waist, "strip as low as you're comfortable with doing."

The bluenette simply nodded. _Did Len just compliment my-?_

"Great! I'll work hard on my end of the deal so do so on yours! I'll be looking forward to it!" Len said moon walking all the way to his room without a single hiccup in his movements.

"Oh yeah, I'll give you a show you'll remember!" Kaito yelled back confidently as Len closed his bedroom door. He could've sworn he heard the blond make a sound equivalent to a fan boy squeal in there. Grinning, the blue haired man decided to give the moon walk a try but after three steps, he fell over.

_ Len made that look a lot easier then it actually is! Ow..._

* * *

Super sorry for uber late update! I had a couple of chapters drafted up last month but its been taking me much longer to proofread and fix them all then anticipated. So I decided instead of uploading the first three new ones (Chapters 5,6 & 7) at the same time as originally planned, I'll just upload each as I finish with them ^^; So updates should be more frequent now.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

High school gym class.

Unlike the majority of students that would either love it or hate it (mostly hate it) with no middle ground, Kaito had a fifty-fifty love/hate relationship. He liked being outside when the weather was good. No matter the activity, there was always time to chill near the end of class and nothing was more relaxing then sitting on the soft grass under a warm sun. It was the days his class was forced to stay inside that were terrible. The air conditioner kept the gym freezing, leaving all the students shivering messes both before and after having run around. When falling over, there was no soft grass below. Only a very hard, very cold floor waited. On the few occasions Kaito was unfortunate enough to trip, he'd feel that collision with the ground for the rest of the day. Not even face planting on the track hurt as much, something that (thankfully) only happened once.

But regardless if gym was held inside or out, the coach always had them all do warm up stretches. Those same stretches were what Kaito planned on doing in the comfort of his apartment thousands of miles from that ice box with the accursed orange hued **hard**wood floor. Not fully remembering the exact order each was done in, he performed them in the order they surfaced in his memories. First to be recalled was bending down to touch the toes, then shoulder stretches, next were torso twists, fourth was stretching out the old quadriceps, and finally squats. He felt relatively pumped in the end.

"Heh, maybe I should do this more often!" Kaito smiled after a decent job well done. _I wonder if Len does stretches like these or, rather, when does he get around to exercising at all with his schedule?_ Len had several weights in his room so he must use them, right? Plus all that dancing must help keep the blond in tip top shape. Speaking of which, it was time for Kaito to start working on some moves. He headed over to the bathroom with laptop in hand so to be in front of the only mirror he owned that was large enough for this practice session.

The portable computer was placed on the grayish marble counter top a safe distance from both the toilet and the sink. Hovering one hand over the keyboard's square mouse area, he glided his index finger expertly along the smooth surface, dragging the pointer on screen about so to rapidly scroll through his playlist for a suitable dance number. Once one was found, he double clicked and moved back as the music started blasting from the machine's speakers. Kaito jerked his hips to the left and then to the right in sync of the rhythm. As the song picked up in tempo, so did his lower body with hips being moved in a faster, more circular motion. Then the beat switched itself up with the bluenette following suit and on reaching the main chorus, Kaito brought both arms to his abdomen, secured the ends of his shirt, then slide it up and over, taking the time to have a little fun swinging it above his head like he'd seen Len do until he got a really good look at his bare chest in the mirror. Kaito knew he was out of shape, but not _this _out of shape. His pecs were fairly flabby and his belly a tad pudgy with absolutely no hint of a 'pack' to speak of. Ok, maybe for the average unfit guy his age he wasn't too awful but compared to the Greek god-like bod that was Len's…something needed to be done. He knew it would take several months if not years to get halfway as fit as his room mate but he could at least work on tightening things up.

How to go about that? Push-ups perhaps? Kaito dropped to the floor, planning on doing fifty but falling pitifully short at six. He flipped onto his back having decided to try sit-ups and once again set a personal goal of fifty but couldn't get past five. Sighing heavily in defeat, he stayed lain against the cool tiled bathroom floor seriously considering joining a gym and working with a professional trainer. But what would it cost and would he stay committed even after the strip tease? The answer to the latter was a resounding yes. This could even be a great way to bond with Len, them becoming possible fitness buddies. As for Kaito's curiosity about costs, the laptop above him had running internet so the answer would be one quick search away. He attempted getting up but fell right back down beside his T-shirt. _Even this floor is softer then the one in that gym! And could that count as a sixth sit up?_

The song he previously been dancing too faded out having reached its end with a few seconds of silence following before a new piece started up. Kaito closed his eyes, greatly enjoying the jazz mix as he allowed himself to relax some. A small tinge of inspiration formed leading him to thinking of writing something special for Len. _He was also interested in my older music, wasn't he?_ While the bluenette didn't have any of the CDs, he still had the original files on his other computer-An old desktop currently in the box it was originally gifted to him in. And that box was way, way, _way_ in the back of his closet forever condemned to the shadows. Kaito couldn't bring himself to sell or throw it out much like he couldn't toss out any of the papers scattered in his room. If he ever managed to finish writing something, that desktop would be his go to machine for all his recording and mixing needs. There was a ton of software and plug-ins on it.

But that stuff wasn't the reason for him not throwing out the computer. Kaito had all those programs backed up on an external hard drive and could easily load them to another unit if need be. What else could it be then? Well, there were all those old project files of songs he made over the years on the desktop, could those be the reason for him holding onto it?

No, not really since he backed all those up too.

…Wait, that wasn't entirely true, not all of his projects had been saved.

There was one file.

One very, very, very important file whose existence and disappearance helped climax the demise of his beloved band and previous romantic relationship. The day and succeeding weeks of the file's loss, Kaito frantically searched the hard drive and every single piece of equipment he had that could hold digital data but to no avail. Extremely upset over the entire incident, he shoved the desktop into the deepest corner of his closet so to put it all behind him.

But the small hope of maybe being able to suddenly locate the file…that was the true reason he kept the desktop. What if he could find it right now? It wouldn't change anything but it'd be nice for closure's sake.

Forcing him self up from the floor with a massive rush of determination, the bluenette exited the bathroom and went straight into the closet. Passing his work clothes, passing his casual threads, passing his formal attire until the prize was in sight: A large, sealed, extremely dusty old white box. Kaito wiped as much dust off of it as he could, with his efforts resulting in a cleaner package but lots of sneezing. He dragged the box out into the middle of his bedroom and ripped away the tape sealing it with ease. Everything inside was how it was left, in good condition. All that was needed was a place to assemble the equipment. Kaito's original computer desk, as well as practically everything else that had been in the late music studio room, was sold off so he'd have to make due with the furniture he still had. Carefully picking up and setting aside the large stacks of papers on his dresser, he set all the pieces of the computer on the space leftover. It took a few minutes of peripheral shifting to get everything hooked up and comfortably situated atop the not-so-very-wide surface. Thankfully the electric cord was long enough to reach the only available outlet. Plug firmly secured, Kaito pressed the power button on the tower with bated breath but released it in relief when the ever familiar "beep!" sounded and the usual start up screen flashed upon the monitor. That soon faded and a high quality stock photo of a sun rise over a lush meadow took its place. _This wallpaper-it's the same looking place as in my dream with Len on the mountain! Except instead of a sunrise it was a sunset..._

Several icons popped up on the screen and once they were all loaded up, it was game on! Kaito first ran a search for the file by typing in all the names he remembered putting the project under but it came up empty, just like in the past. So he diligently began checking every single folder on the drive manually but this turned up nothing as well a couple of hours later.

It was…really gone, huh?

Completely…and utterly…it was…

Gone.

GONE!

**GONE!**

Examining the currently opened page once more, Kaito's eyes narrowed in on a different project file, a song he made right before the creation of the lost single. And like the missing song, this one had only been heard in its original form by…

…

"_What do you think Gakupo?" A younger twenty-two year old Kaito, now in his fourth year of college, asked his boyfriend after the music faded out. His BF was sitting right beside him in the master bedroom turned personal home music studio. Nearly all the equipment inside had been purchased i__n one fell swoop _by the older man, who never revealed how he acquired so much money but promised it was from a legit source.

"_It's as good as all of your other ones," Gakupo idly praised, running a hand down his long violet locks._

_"If you don't like it, you can be honest. Your constructive criticism is welcome!"_

"_Trust me, I know," he winked, slipping some of his hair behind his ear, "But I had meant it when I said it sounded as good as your other stuff." He sighed, "But that's the problem."_

_"Oh...I guess it is a little similar to 'A Thousand Immoral- ,'"_

"_No, I didn't mean it sounded like any of your previous works. I meant the quality and appeal is the same. It'll please the fans we have but do nothing to further expand the base, thus getting us nowhere! I'm sure you already heard the rumors of big name talent scouts being at this year's Battle of the Bands? If we don't deliver something absolutely amazing, Teru's group is all but guaranteed the big break we deserve!"_

"_I can make some adjustments-,"_

"_No, you should start completely over from scratch!" _

"_From scratch?! But the show is in two weeks! There's no way I could write something new in that short amount of time! This alone took a month to write!"_

"_You CAN do it," Gakupo put a firm hand on the bluenette's shoulder, "I know you have what it takes to create the song that'll blow away the competition! You've got the skill, the talent, and the passion."_

"_But-,"_

"_Beyond a shadow of a doubt I KNOW you can do it! Why else would Meiko always have the band depending on you to write the hits? If she could hear you right now-well, I shouldn't have to tell you what would happen do I?"_

"_Alright, I'll do it! Just let me email Meiko about this real quick."_

"_No, don't give out spoilers, you should surprise her! Now get to work on our first smash hit, the band's counting on you!"_

_Kaito slowly nodded, seeing the time he had been most worried about coming had finally arrived. _

_Meiko foretold of this back when she first approached him about her idea of starting a band during the summer of their high school graduation. She wanted Kaito to be the group's lead vocalist and songwriter but he declined due to having very low confidence in his abilities. She argued the most highly acclaimed music-centric university in the world that only accepted the best of the best had admitted him, meaning he was one of the best of the best. Thus, he should believe in himself and join her band, because only he would be able to write the songs that'd make it a global household name. She swore that the smash hit they'd need to get to that level would be written by him and him alone. Kaito had still declined her offer but after a dozen more impassioned speeches from the feisty brunette, he finally agreed to join on the terms he wouldn't have to be lead singer. Meiko reluctantly accepted, then began naming off the different instruments Kaito could play with him deciding on bass. _

_College began and so did Meiko's mission of finding more band members as her first recruit busied himself with writing their debut song. He had been incredibly nervous turning in the finished product to Meiko and then having it presented to the group's newest members: Gakupo on guitar, Roro on drums, and Wil on keyboard. Naturally with so many differing personalities collaborating, several changes were made to the song but it was plenty of fun and the final arrangement came out better then Kaito ever imagined. He hoped things would always be that way, everyone bringing something to the table and sharing in the songs' successes or failures. Yet it seemed the more popular the band got, the less the other members cared to give out ideas until now when they did nothing but robotically perform whatever Kaito wrote. If he tried asking if anyone had things they wanted to add or change, they'd all dismiss the question with a "Nah, its good as is!" then look to Meiko who'd tell them to take positions for rehearsals. Why the sudden change? He had no clue but what he did know was that he needed to create the 'perfect' song in two weeks with everyone counting on him._

_Would Kaito be crushed under that pressure?_

_No way, not when they've gotten this far! He couldn't let down the band and its fans! Fired up with an incredible amount of passion and motivation, Kaito went about composing day in and day out. Whenever his boyfriend tried to ask to see what he had done, Kaito would cover the paper up and say something along the lines of 'not yet, still working on it!' Which was true at the time but usually five minutes after uttering that very phrase, the page would be balled up in a trash bin. _

_The first week went by with zero progress._

_Around three a.m. on the following Sunday night, Kaito slammed his pen down and let out an extremely loud, drawn out growl of frustration. Being the only one present in the sound proofed studio, he didn't hold back. Roughly pushing aside his notebook, the bluenette hopped onto a nearby desktop googling up 'inspiration' and stared at all the various images until he happened upon a sunrise over a meadow picture with an overly cheesy caption. He did a little more digging and found a version of the photo without the text. Placing that as his new wallpaper, for some inexplicable reason, it filled him with a thoroughly refreshing surge of energy that got his mind racing faster then ever. By something nothing short of a miracle, Kaito was able to write a brand new song almost completely outside of his usual style by Monday night. It took another couple of days to finalize, record and mix. _

…

"_So what do you think of this one? Enough to land us a record deal on the spot?" Kaito beamed proudly through his utter exhaustion._

"_There's no way it won't!" Gakupo replied gleefully, "You've out done yourself!"_

"_I'm glad you like it! I'll notify Meiko-,"_

"_Before you go do that, you'll be singing lead right? Your voice is too perfect for this song to not!" _

"_But Meiko's always lead."_

"_Come on, you worked really hard on this. You should definitely be the lead!"_

"_But Meiko's got the better vocals."_

"_Tch, maybe when this band first started," Gakupo's voice started taking on a more irritated tone, "but hearing you now, you've improved a shit ton! So be the lead singer!"_

"_No way! Meiko can sing this just as well as I can, I'm sure. If we want to win, having her sing is our best bet!" _

"_With as much talent as you have, you still doubt yourself?"_

"_It's not like that…Meiko and I had this agreement-,"_

"_Stop right there, I already know where this going!"_

"_Eh?"_

"_She's been making a lot of those sorts of agreements! One such being that anyone not named Kaito couldn't help with writing music anymore if we hope to get into the major leagues!"_

"_Why would she say something that?!" _

"_Hell if I know! But she said that to me after showing her a song I wrote for the band. She called it crap, a cheap imi- Do you know how hard I worked on it?! It was real fucking good and I'm not tooting my own horn here either. Roro and Wil thought it was great too."_

"_You wrote a song?! Why didn't you tell me, I want to hear it!" _

"_You were busy then but don't worry about it, too late now. Besides, what you've made is a million times better! I'll call up Wil and Roro to let them know."_

"_What about Meiko?"_

"_What about her? The plan is you're going to be lead vocals and bass, I'll be on guitar, Roro on drums, and Wil on keyboard. With this arrangement, we don't need Meiko at all! With her gone, we can work on our next big hit together like when we first started! Won't that be great?"_

_It would but,_ "_No way! I'll never support kicking Meiko out of the band she created!"_

"_Then what, you want to make a new one with out her?" he nearly growled._

"No, _I think we need to hold a meeting with ALL members about this."_

"_I can already tell you what would happen at it. Ready? Spoiler alert, we'll all be voting Meiko out." _

_Kaito gasped in horror, "But why?"_

"_Did I not just go over that?"_

"_I can't abandon Meiko-,"_

"_Of course you can! Trust me when I say the band will be better off without her!"_

"_I don't believe that! If we talk it out-,"_

"_No one's opinions are going to change! Tch, why can't I get through to you?! Am I going to have to make an ultimatum? Either Meiko's out or Wil, Roro, and I are out."_

"_No, please-,"_

"_Your blind loyalty to her or your love for me?"_

_Kaito was way too sleep-deprived for all this drama, those all-nighters finally beginning to take there toll, "You're both important to me! You're all important to me! Please, let's hold a meeting-,"_

"_You'll be faced with the same damn questions so you might as well answer now and save everyone the time!" _

"_I don't have an answer for you! Let me get some sleep first!"_

_Gakupo looked ready to yell some more but, seeing just how tired Kaito did look, he softened his voice and features, "Ok, I'm sorry. Shouldn't have dumped this on you so suddenly." They both left their seats and Gakupo held the door open as the bluenette trudged on through. "Good night Kaito," he whispered closing it behind him. __Kaito muttered a quick 'night' as he continued on towards the bedroom. The second the bed was in sight, he leapt onto it and immediately passed out. While he blissfully visited the land of dreams, a huge betrayal was taking place in the world of reality._

…

The band broke up the day the Battle of the Bands was held, causing them to cancel almost last minute. The group's self-proclaimed number one fan girl, Ring, phoned Meiko when she heard the onstage announcement about them being no-shows. In the background of her call, Kaito could hear the song he'd written (under Gakupo's encouragement) being performed by their rivals Vice Mountain! Seeing her friend suddenly go deathly pale, Meiko hung up in a panic and asked what the matter was. She automatically believed him when he told her about the stolen music, volunteering to help in finding the evidence to prove the fact so to call out Vice. But Kaito's Ex had done a thorough job of destroying all his notes and deleting every instance of the project file. The next day, to add insult to injury, Ring informed the distraught duo about Vice Mountain having done several encores at the request of the audience and landing a record deal thanks to Kaito's song! Ring and Meiko double teamed to investigate, with the only thing surmised in the end was that Gakupo, Wil, and Roro were all behind the theft. That they were all traitors!

But why? What was the point? That could've been their band on stage being asked for encores, to be added to a label! It could've all been their's if it wasn't for those morons! Yet…Meiko and Ring forgave them?! How?!

Ever since that incident, Kaito was never able to complete a new song no matter how much he wanted to. And oh how he so badly wanted to write something even better then the stolen 'Unrequited' song. To make those traitors regret leaving them behind. Yet all of his failed attempts were piled up high in his bedroom.

The bluenette tore his glassy eyes from all those papers and back to the computer, snagging his headphones so to listen to his old project files. All the songs he'd written to completion, he recorded himself singing to get a good feel for the entire piece. It was surprisingly fun listening to how his voice changed over the years, with one that was obviously sung in the midst of puberty.

Finishing up his merry stroll down the better side of memory lane, Kaito collected all the songs he believed Len would be into (which was everything done in college) and then, after securing a blank CD-RW, began burning them onto a disc. While that went on, he decided to get a little shut eye before his room mate returned. The voices of his past selves kept echoing in his head as laid there on the mattress. Listening very closely, a certain realization hit him loud and clear. He started grinning.

_I'm actually looking forward to Meiko's bachelorette/reunion party now…_

* * *

This was the chapter that was taking me forever to fix up orz

But,um, more silly Kaito and Len moments next time! Thank you for reading and I appreciate all the reviews! I'm really happy to see so many people are still interested in this story ^-^


	7. Chapter 7

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Kaito awoke with a jolt, his arms tenderly wrapped around a pillow. A sudden wave of grumpiness hit due to having his very good dream interrupted. The bluenette had been rocking it out solo on stage singing 'Unrequited' and the audience was going insane with enthusiasm. After finishing that number, Kaito announced he was going to invite some one from the crowd to help sing his next song, a very special love ballad. And just who did Kaito select among the thousands present? Why Len of course, who grasped the singer's outstretched hand tightly the second it was presented to him. Kaito happily hoisted him up onto the stage with ease. There they stood extremely close together with both of their hands overlapped over the other's so to support the single microphone held in the small space between their lips. As the ballad progressed, the mic was lowered further and further while their faces came closer and closer and naturally just before the big kiss the alarm clock went off!

Forced back to the cruel world known as reality, the first item Kaito's misty eyes focused clearly on was…an aquarium? _When did I get one of those?_ He pushed the pillow away and walked over to the dresser, placing a curious finger against the 'fish tank'. _This feels like a- Oh, duh! _ Kaito's right hand lazily traveled over to the computer's mouse and shook it a little. The screen saver fizzled out to show a message informing him the CD had successfully finished burning. He ejected the disc from the tower's tray, his mind quickly wandering back to that love balled in his dreams. It was nothing Kaito had ever heard before so did that mean he came up with an all original song in his sleep? That being the case, those lyrics and that melody…they needed to be recorded somewhere stat! The desktop was right in front of him but he was wary of adding any new files to it.

Paper and pen it was.

Kaito went over to his nightstand, opening the bottom drawer to retrieve a pen from the hundreds loose inside and, once shutting it, went to snag the calendar sitting on top of the stand. The slip of paper he'd written the names of all potential roommates to be interviewed was still in the calendar as he hoped and used the back of it to jot down what little he could remember of the ballad. It wasn't much but that was fine because this was a good start. He'd fill in the rest later since there was only seven minutes left to prepare for Len's arrival. Giving his arm pits a quick sniff, it was decided a quick shower was definitely in order. Before heading to the bath, Kaito went to gather the clothes he planned to change into after washing up. First article collected was a pair of underpants. All the bluenette owned were boxers, with him strongly believing none of them would satisfy Len's condition for "sexy". He added 'go buy a pair of sexy underwear' to his ever increasing mental list of things to do.

The closet offered plenty of variety for different outfit combinations and Kaito definitely wanted to try something new tonight. Len had been very excited about him being in a rock band so how would he react seeing his room mate dressed in his old rocker clothes? Grinning, Kaito re-visited the place in the back of his closet, past his formal clothing to where his flashy old duds were kept. The reason those clothes hadn't been thrown out? They were all custom made and thus expensive. Also, he did feel really cool owning them. The bluenette analyzed all the jeans and leather pants but he feared they may be too tight since he's packed on some pounds. But luckily he did own a pair of baggy black pants with a whole bunch of adjustable belts attached everywhere. Those would do alongside his short, black ripped sleeveless T-shirt that had a second, longer dark blue sleeveless undershirt sewn beneath it.

Showering plus getting dressed plus hair styling caused Kaito to be plus five minutes late. He hurriedly snapped the newly recorded CD into its case, placed that case securely in his back pocket and exited the bedroom.

"S'up Len! Welcome back…," he announced starting off cheerful but ending much less so upon seeing his room mate completely bent over the counter with a can of protein shake in hand, exactly like the last time he was in this state. "Seriously, you shouldn't work yourself so hard that you end up like this!" _And on the night I decide to dress up too!_

"I had to…give it my all…," Len mumbled before trying to take a sip but poured the liquid onto the counter instead.

Kaito sighed, retrieving a straw from the usual place and was about to give it to the blond until spotting a huge puddle of the shake all over the kitchen floor."Is there anything left in that can?"

Len brought it to his mouth again but nothing came out, "No, but I'm still thirsty," he softly whined in disappointment.

When his room mate attempted to lift himself up, Kaito immediately yelped, "I'll get you another one so just stay there!" He didn't keep Len waiting long , delivering the promised freshly opened can of protein shake and bonus straw for easier ingestion in less then a minute, "Here you go!"

"Thanks."

"Mmmhmmm!"

Seeing him contently sucking down on the straw, the bluenette got onto his knees and went to work on wiping up the mess. Halfway through this task, he asked out of concerned curiosity,"What did you do tonight that made you so tired?"

A much more energetic sounding Len answered, "I pole danced."

"Pole danced?! Wh-what sort of things did you do for that?" _Dammit, why couldn't I have been there to watch?! You know, so to… support and cheer on Len of course *ahem*_

"How to explain…um; please imagine a lot of spinning, swinging and flipping combined with regular stripping on a pole. I spent most of the performance upside down with my legs spread. The customers seemed to enjoy those parts."

Some drool escaped from the sides of Kaito's mouth, "I'm sure I would've too-err, so what else did you do?"

Len giggled, "After that I worked the floor and gave out a whole bunch of lap dances at the request of different clients. Because there were so many new faces, I worked twice as hard so to leave a good impression! Then I had to do a few private dances...it was a really busy night," he pushed the most current empty can away and laid his head fully down on the counter.

"Sounds rough," Kaito stood back up and tossed the soaked bundle of paper towels into the trash," Are you finished drinking that? I'll clean it up, you just go to bed!"

Len suddenly shot up fully facing the bluenette, his gaze deeply fixated on him.

"Something wrong?!"

"You," Len took a few steps towards him, "You look really hot tonight. Did you go out somewhere?"

_He noticed and thinks I'm hot, yes!_ _Ok, stay cool,_ "Nah, I had thought it'd be fun to try on the clothes I wore when I was with the band."

Len's eyes doubled in size, "You wore that when you performed with your band?! They look really good!" he moved in close, pressing his hands against the sides of Kaito's abdomen and taking a sniff, "Mmmm, you smell nice too," he buried his face into Kaito's chest, "and you make a great pillow!"

"Thank...you? Anyway, you should really head to bed after the night you had!"

"Will you come with me?" he asked in that soft, sleepy tone that caused Kaito's heart to skip several beats.

"I'll...help you get there."

"And then?" Len asked, his hands moving down the bluenette's body.

_Where is he going with this? It can't possibly be where I'm thinking it's going, could it? _"I don't know, what did you have in mind?"

"Well maybe we could-," the blond's left hand suddenly struck something hard, causing a small clatter-type sound to erupt, "Eeeep, what was that?" He quickly backed up in fright, appearing much more awake now.

"That would be the CD I made for you," Kaito replied breathing heavily, removing the plastic case from his back pocket. _  
_

Len stared as if the man before him had just proposed marriage, "You-you...took the time to make me a CD!?"

"Since you had been so interested in my music, I figured I'd make you a copy of a few tunes. Its nothing major," Kaito laughed nervously, extending the square package towards his room mate.

Len accepted the gift, hugging it close to his chest, "Nothing major? But isn't music made from the heart? So you giving me this is like-," he cheeks flushed scarlet, "Never mind, thank you so much, I'm going to listen to it right now!" He quickly ran into his room and when the door closed, Kaito could hear a very loud fan boy squeal from the other side of it.

_Was all that stuff Len was doing before I gave him the CD a result of him being exhausted or-? _Very happy yet very confused, Kaito returned to his own bedroom to get some more rest.

…

The alarm clock went off again, this time signaling the unconscious mass to its right that he had work in an hour. Kaito rolled out of bed and went through the usual motions of his boring daily routine and on reaching the part where food was required; he frowned seeing he wouldn't be having any of Len's home cooking today. All the office party grub was already eaten yesterday evening so that wasn't an option either.

He let out an exaggerated yawn before opening up the freezer, the dinners held within being his only sources for nourishment. Just as he finished pulling one out at random, a bright voice suddenly greeted, "Morning Kaito!"

The addressed clumsily turned toward his addresser, who was watching him from behind the counter so only his shirtless upper torso was visible. "Len?! What are you doing up?"

"I finished listening to your CD and it was amazing! Ah…," Len titled his head quizzically, "What's that?" he pointed at the box in Kaito's hand.

"Huh? Oh, it's a frozen dinner. I was going to warm one up for breakfast."

"That's no way to start a day! To show my gratitude for you giving me that CD, I'll make you something special!" Len fully entered the kitchen area, revealing an apron tightly tied around his waist with an especially large magenta bow. He gathered half of the cloth in his hands and threw it over his shoulders to unveil its true form as a full body apron. And quite the interesting apron it was: The base color was a very light yellow with an overlapping intricate magenta cat paw print design. There were two large pockets that had a tiny light yellow ribbon attached to each on either side of the apron's lower half, as well as another ribbon exactly like the ones on the pockets sewn onto the tip top of the garment's upper chest region. All those ribbons had a small black button shaped like a cat's head in the middle of them. Light yellow frills outlined the arm area and the entire square shaped bottom half of the piece.

"Where did you get that?" Kaito asked both puzzled and amused over the get up.

"One of my co workers gave it to me," Len replied casually, removing his phone from the left pocket and turning it on, "he's a costume designer and this was one of his creations."

"It's a costume eh?" he gave the apron another look over, "So did it come with cat ears and a tail?"

The blond suddenly turned shy, "What makes you say that?"

"It did, didn't it?"

"I'm n-n-not putting them on!"

"Is that a yes?"

"No…," he whined in a way that made it obvious the exact opposite was true.

"You should put them on!"

"Why?" then in a more teasing yet still shy tone, "Do you have a cat boy fetish?"

"Put on those accessories and we'll find out!" Kaito laughed, sneaking a peek at Len's phone screen. He had a web search up, with all the results in, "Huh, you understand French?"

"Oui! Do you speak it?"

_Oui, that's French for 'yes', right? _"No but you say more stuff in it!"

"What's the point if you don't know what I'm saying?"

"I know 'Bonjour'."

"Bonjour~" Len repeated with correct pronunciation and a flirty smile.

A strong shiver went down Kaito's spine. _That was too hot, way too hot!_

"How was that?"

"Really nice, now could you repeat that with the cat ears on?"

Len's cheeks went extremely red, "What? No! I need to concentrate on cooking now so please leave the kitchen!"

"As you wish!" Kaito chuckled obediently doing as told. He took a seat on the opposite side of the table he usually sat at so to get a good view of Len in action. Thanks to the counters being in the way, the half of his room mate's body that was below the top portion of the giant dark pink bow was hidden. But that didn't matter since the upper half of Len's body was doing the work Kaito wanted to watch. All the while Len was cooking, Kaito could hear him humming one of his songs and the bluenette couldn't have left more honored. Not to mention Len's humming in general was really cute. _I bet he has a really nice singing voice but doesn't realize it._

Five minutes later, Len waltzed over and gently placed an extremely delicious looking and smelling golden omelet in front of him along with the necessary silverware. "Sorry its nothing fancy but I hope you like it."

Kaito didn't hesitate in digging in right away, exclaiming after a few bites, "This is the best omelet I've ever had!" _  
_

"Really?"

"YES! I can imagine this being served in a five star restaurant!"

"Yeah right! But I'm glad you like it," he sighed in relief but tensed right back up, "Whoops forgot to get you a drink, I'll be right back!"

"Don't worry about it," Kaito spoke up before Len turned around, already noticing signs of fatigue in his roomie's features, "you've already done more then enough!" _This is a super early time for him to be awake and yet he still took the time to make me breakfast...  
_

"Well, this is also my way of apologizing for last night. I got too carried away! You had looked so…and then it got me so-," his face went fully red, "-Let me just go get that drink for you now!" Len started rapidly walking backwards with hands behind his back until his palms banged against the refrigerator. He twirled around with the grace of a ballerina, opening the fridge's door in the process.

Meanwhile Kaito got to behold a fabulously erotic sight: It seemed the apron was the _only _piece of clothing Len was wearing. With him bent over, only two slim strands of cloth tailing the giant bow were (barely) covering his nether regions.

_How do you say "I think I'm in love" in French?_


	8. Chapter 8

On a lovely cool summer's evening at the largest mall in the city, Kaito took his first step in fulfilling the goals he had been creating for the last few days. It was all thanks to his financially dependable (and very hot) room mate that the bluenette had the funds to do what he needed to do.

So great was the joy felt for this momentous occasion where he wasn't broke for once in his entire adult life. Ever since leaving home for college, Kaito's pockets had always been empty thanks to both living and educational expenses. But between his job at the ice cream store and his friends, and later on a boyfriend, he was able to get by. Meiko came from a well off family and had tons of connections so the vast majority of band costs were taken care of by her. Wil, who too came from decent wealth, helped with the band's budget as well. Roro wasn't as loaded as them but he wasn't nearly as poor as Kaito. The only person more broke then Kaito was- _Why am I thinking about this when I should be focusing on finding a store that sells sexy male underwear?_

He had no luck in locating one while exploring the entirety of the first floor and was about to head up to the second when he abruptly paused his travels. Three methods of ascension were presented: The elevator, the escalator, and the stairs. Seizing the opportunity to do more exercise, Kaito chose to jog up the stairs. He ended up taking a seat on a bench nearby to catch his breath having forgotten just how much speed walking he'd done prior. The bluenette wanted to get in and get out so he had greatly increased the pace of his usual sauntering. Surveying the current scenery, a little ways down from where he rested was the store he'd been searching for. With victory in reach, Kaito quickly got back up and marched on over.

Like he had spied in the distance, the shop's windows were indeed filled with full bodied male manikins modeling both boxers and boxer briefs. Kaito definitely didn't need to buy any more of the former but the latter was a strong possibility. The store's interior was fairly small and well lit with a grey, yellow, and black color scheme. There were several grey marble tables featuring half-bodied (from the waist down) manikins modeling whatever underwear was stocked on the shelves behind it. With the way the manikin's knees melted into the table, it looked as if they were built into it instead of just sitting on top. The huge photos of real life male models in nothing but underpants hung between each shelf were _really_ nice.

_Right, right, I'm supposed to be looking for a pair for myself. Now what kind to get? _Kaito walked to one of the tables with a grin on his face. _I bet Len would never expect me to wear a thong! _ He picked up a black one and examined it. It was wide on the front side but nothing but an extremely thin string for the back. _This would be one hell of a wedgie…Pass!_ None of the other thongs appeared to be any better, with a downright bizarre one that had a bird's beak sticking out of the crotch. _What the- who would buy that?! _

Next section was all about briefs, with Kaito scanning all those shelves had to offer and they had A LOT to offer. The bluenette took a peek at the more 'exotic' varieties, which were either partially or fully transparent. _I don't want to show Len the goods without removing my underwear! _So he scuttled back over to the tamer types and grabbed a low rise black pair with royal blue outlines. For a place where Kaito was sure everything would be way overpriced just cause, the cost listed for the briefs were shockingly reasonable…for a store in a mall anyway. Satisfied with this decision, he was about to turn to the register when he spotted the boxer briefs area. _ It couldn't hurt to buy a pair of those, it's not like I can't afford too!_

Having spending money was the best.

Over in that section there was a large selection to choose from just like the others, but one of the unique things to these parts was the ice cream themes. The first group had a bunch of popsicles all over it; another had cartoony triple decker cones, the next ones were ice cream sandwiches and the final set were just overlapping images of huge, differing flavored scoops of the frozen treat. Kaito worked with the stuff all the time, why would he want to own underwear with it on there? _What guy would want this?_ _If he was an ice cream fanatic then maybe but I doubt one would pay this mu- wait, they're twenty percent off? Well, really looking at them they aren't that bad. Seems as if they'd be pretty comfortable, good support…_

He snagged a pair from the final set.

Kaito continued his exploration of the boxer briefs and happened upon ones with various musical designs: Piano keys, music sheets, glow in the dark volume equalizer and a jet black pair with colorful gradient hued musical notes. He could not get the glow in the dark ones if just for the novelty factor (because why not, he could afford it!) but also decided to get the musical sheet pair being it was sort of classy in its own way. That and he wanted to see if he could play the tune on his keyboard. _Maybe I should buy a 'normal' pair too? I have the cash. Muahahaha, I have the cash! I have the cash! _Just as Kaito reached out and took a solid dark blue pair someone snuck right up behind him.

"They say you can tell a lot about a person based on their underwear! And you sir are a very interesting person! Dare I say, even my type!"

"Leon?!" The bluenette turned on his heel, hiding all of his future purchases behind his back.

The correctly identified man, dressed in a snazzy dark burgundy tuxedo, smiled as if he'd just hit two different million dollar lotteries at the same time, "You remembered my name, I'm honored! Very honored! I feel with this event our acquaintance ship as transcended into the realm of friendship, wouldn't you agree Kaito?"

_How? Isn't this only the second time we've met face to face? _He shrugged.

"Right, right, the last thing you're probably interested in is having me as only a friend~" Leon winked, "So if you're not busy, why not spend the evening with me? I was thinking of eating out, my treat!"

"Definitely not and no thanks!"

"Are you the 'takes- things- slow' type? That's fine! Really it's fine because I respect that! So how about we go out to eat as friends then?"

"Still no thanks!" Not only because he didn't feel like it but he was already stuffed from eating Len's delicious cooking at home before coming to the mall.

"Come on now Kaito, you look like someone who is in desperate need of a good time! I can see the distress painted all over that handsomely chiseled face of yours and I bet it's because of your new room mate being a good for nothing bum, right? Am I right?"

_Really, he's still on that? _ "No, things between my roommate and I are great. I have no complaints."

"Sure not even one?"

"Are you here to buy something? The prices aren't bad," Kaito hoped so hard for a topic derail.

"Why I came in here to see you my friend! So things are good with your room mate hmmm? Is he easy on the eyes like moi?" Leon smoothly redirected the flow back to its original location much to his 'friend's' chagrin.

"He looks great, his personality is great, everything about him is great!" Which was the unadulterated truth.

"I see, I see! Sounds like he'd make great boyfriend material, have you made any moves on him yet? I am great at playing match maker, leave it to me and you two will be walking down the aisle in no time at all! But before you propose, make sure to come by my store! I've got THE finest quality engagement rings and bands at unbeatable prices and since you're a friend, I'll even offer a very special discount on top of the already great, affordable prices!"

Kaito nearly got verbal whiplash from how quickly Leon went from trying to be his roomie to selling him jewelry, not to mention he always spoke at one hundred and eighty miles a second, "No...thank you?"

"But do you know how hard it is to find a good man these days that isn't taken? I hear women complaining about it all the time! Well, they mention the good guys are either taken or gay, but that last point is good news for you yeah? Yeah! So when you find a good single gay man, you must claim him right there and then! And since your roommate is so great in every department, you should do everything in your power to win his heart! If you're unsure how, I will happily lend you my knowledge on the art of romance and seduction!"

During Leon's speedy speech, Kaito was busy speeding over to the cash register. "I don't need any relationship help, I'm fine!"

Naturally Leon was right on his tail "Does that mean you're not romantically attracted to him or is it that he's not romantically attracted to you?"

"I need to pay for my stuff now!" Kaito announced finally making it to the front desk and was incredibly grateful no one else was in line. The sooner he paid, the sooner he could get out!

"I understand now, the source of your distress!" Leon stated over dramatically. The cashier, a middle aged dark brown haired man with reddish eyes and several piercings all over each of his ears, stared at the two of them in amusement.

"I am not distressed!" Kaito corrected annoyed, placing the multiple pairs of underwear onto the black marble platform.

"You can't hide things from The Leon! Let me heal that broken heart of yours by joining me for a guy's night out!"

"I'm not heart broken and again no thank you!"

"Why do you keep turning down my kindness? I can't help you if you don't let me help you!"

"Because…no thank you!"

"That'll be seventy three bucks and thirty cents," the cashier informed.

Kaito gasped. _No thank you to that price! I should've paid more attention to how much they'd all be total instead of their cost individually! What should I put back?_

"So that's it!" Leon whipped out his wallet from his inner coat pocket, ostentatiously shuffled through all the large bills within it, and offered the store employee a crisp hundred dollar bill, "Keep the change!"

"Kay," the cashier completed the transaction then neatly placed everything inside a medium sized gray paper bag and handed it to Kaito. "Have a good evening fellas."

"I will definitely make sure my friend here has a very, very goodnight!" Leon declared placing an arm around the bluenette's waist and leading him out. "Are you hungry Kaito, because I'm hungry! Got any preferences on where we should go or shall I surprise you?"

"I-I already ate!" Kaito stuttered stumbling from Leon's embrace, "And let me pay you back for this stuff!"

The wheaten blond shook his head, "No, that was a gift!"

"But you gave that man a hundred _and_ told him to keep the change!"

"No price is too high for your happiness! If its money bringing you down, I'm here for you! I'll gladly be your sugar daddy so kick that other roommate of yours to the curb and you'll be living on easy street!"

"No thank you! I can afford to pay you back!" opening his own wallet, all he found inside was a five dollar bill and his debit card. _Crap, I forgot to withdraw some cash! _ "Um, actually, just give me a-"

"Sssh! It's alright Kaito! Its alright! I hope you weren't offended by my constant assumptions of your roommate being a bum when you're like...this. But its alright, I'll take good care of you! How about it?"

_That I'm like...this? Is he trying to say that I'm a-!?_ "I AM NOT A MOOCH!" Kaito yelled but quickly lowered his voice remembering he was in a public place, feeling more then a few stranger's eyes on him. Continuing in a much softer but still irate tone, "I hold down a steady nine to five job, I've never been late on rent and bills, I always covered the amount in full and I have a great credit score! So let me repay you-,"

"Sorry! Sorry! Didn't mean to make you mad, I horrifically misunderstood the situation. I always preach about communication being key in relationships and here I am not following my own teachings. Much shame on me! Let me make it up to you by your acceptance of me buying your very sexy underwear as a gift!"

"No, I will pay you back!"

"How about this, the last ten minutes never happened! All that transpired will be forgotten, especially memories of the financial nature! Does that sound good?"

...

"Fine, I'll forget this ever happened!" Kaito finally caved after ten minutes of fruitless arguing. _I need to hurry up and get to the next store before it gets any later-_

"Kaito!" Leon suddenly yelled.

"What!?"

"Fancy meeting you here, I was on my way to the music store on the third floor to check out some guitars! You probably didn't know that I am quite the musician! But instead of listening to my modest bragging, why not listen to my splendid music? I assure you it'll be well worth your time! What do you say?"

A restart he had proposed? This felt more like a new game plus to Kaito since Leon was using knowledge from the supposedly forgotten event! But hearing him claim he was a musician did perk his interest. "I guess I can spare a few minutes."

"Great, great! Follow me!" he led the bluenette to the elevator, talking about how he not only plays the guitar but sings too. "A number of ladies say I have the voice of an angel~ I'm sure once you hear it, you'll agree!"

"Is that so?" Kaito hummed as they entered it, "Do you write your own compositions?"

"I may have written a few original pieces in my free time, yes."

"If you have then I would like to hear one of them."

"What ever will bring you the most joy, I shall do! But fair warning, hearing this song may cause you to spontaneously fall in love with me!" Leon jokingly replied as they were taken to top most floor of the mall.

"We'll see."

On exiting the elevator, they promptly made their way to the music shop and upon arrival outside its entrance; the bluenette's eyes grew incredibly wide. Wave after wave of nostalgia hit as he remembered all the good times he had visiting such glorious establishments such as this. There were instruments aplenty as expected with Kaito's wandering gaze locking onto a magnificent black concert grand piano. _The first instrument I officially learned to play on! _He always had an extra soft spot for pianos and keyboards..._  
_

"Kaito! Over here!" Leon called with an acoustic guitar in hand. "Do you believe your body is ready for this?"

Giving the grand piano one last loving look, he turned to the tuxedo clad man seated beside him, "Let's hear it."

"I call this one _'Love's Sweetest Melody'_!"

Kaito got his ears prepared for something terrible but wound up pleasantly surprised. The guitar playing and singing were decent, the rhythm was lovely and soothing, and the lyrics, while cheesy, weren't too bad.

"Had it happened? Have my words touched your heart and stirred something deep within your soul?" Leon asked, smoothly transitioning from singing to his usual speedy chatter.

The woman currently on duty in the store, a young lady with dark purple hair styled in two low lying pigtails and wearing an over-sized black hoodie, let out a quiet chuckle.

"No but it was better then expected." Kaito admitted,"For starters, you actually knew what you were doing."

"What gave you doubts I wouldn't?" Leon grinned, "Let me guess, you know a thing or two about guitars? I wouldn't be surprised if many men such as myself have tried to romance you with their own love tunes!"

He shuddered remembering having serenaded his ex once and being laughed at because the words sung were too 'cutesy'. That asshole. "Um no, I personally play." And Kaito suddenly found the guitar placed within his own arms.

"I see, I see! So it is our mutual love of all things musical that bounds our hearts, bodies, and souls to one another! Please, grace my ears with your love's whispered melodies! "

The woman at the register chuckled some more.

"If you insist," Kaito stated taking a seat on the bench Leon had just sat on. After comfortably positioning the guitar on his lap, he strummed a few warm up chords.

"Not bad, not bad!" Leon complimented, causing the employee to giggle snort.

"I haven't even gotten started!" the bluenette smirked before going on to perform an acoustic version of the song Len hummed that morning. When it was time to sing the first verse, Kaito closed his eyes and kept them shut for the remaining duration of the song. It helped him to get really into it with all distractions shut out.

This was pure bliss. _Maybe I should start saving up to purchase a few new instruments...damn I miss my bass..._

After Kaito's voice faded from off the final note, his ears were greeted by applause. Re-exposing his dark blue pupils to the world he saw a small audience had gathered.

Even the store's cashier was present front and center. "That was, like, whoa! How long have you been playing Mister?!"

_I didn't get my first guitar until I was seven so, _"About fifteen years?"

Several gasps were heard amongst the crowd.

"That certainly beats my measly two years!" Leon laughed, "And the song was a piece you personally wrote right?"

Kaito nodded, "Dusk's Melancholy, an acoustic cover."

"Whoa no way!" the purple haired lady gasped, "You wrote that? Recorded any copies of the original version?! I need this in my collection."

Several other people in the crowd agreed.

Before a glowing Kaito could say anything, he heard 'Dusk's Melancholy' playing from somewhere within the gathered group. And it was the original rock version too, no mistaking it. An Ipod shot up above everyone's heads and the owner of it slowly made their way to the front of the lot.

"This is it, the track as first performed by our band," the man stated heightening the volume on his music player. His eyes met with the bluenette's, "It's been awhile, huh Kaito?"

All Kaito could do was grit his teeth and glare at him.

_Why the hell is this traitor here?!_

* * *

But which traitor is it? The drummer? The keyboardist? Or the...guitarist/ex-boyfriend!? Please stay tuned for the next chapter to find out! (Also Len will show up in that one, this chapter he was busy dancing for a very lucky audience somewhere off screen)


End file.
